Shifting Winds (Rewrite)
by KaitouKiwi
Summary: *REWRITE* Laurie has been searching for only one person in the past two months: her father. Now that she's been brought onto the Black Bounty her life will change forever. She has a new objective: bring back Lloyd and destroy the ninja. Will she accomplish her mission or is there something greater that she is meant to accomplish? Slight KaiXOC.
1. The Stranger in the Desert

**Hi, hello! I'm Kiwi and this is...a rewrite of the first story I published here on FF over a year ago. Yay. So, if you've read it before, that's cool. I'm mainly doing this for myself anyways. When you look back at something you wrote and literally cringe over parts of it, it's time to spruce it up a bit.**

**Story plot is basically the same. There are some changes I'm making in order to satisfy my own needs for a more complete development of my OC, plus there were some plot holes/continuity errors that I found recently. Time to fix that stuff. So...here you go.**

**I don't own Ninjago. I don't own the characters. I own my OC. Image used for cover is by one of my greatest friends ever, silverblade1999. She rocks. :)**

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Chapter One: The Stranger in the Desert

The sprawling desert was unforgiving as the teenager sauntered across it. Endless, steaming sand surrounded her on all sides, reflecting the intense heat from the sun back up on her. It almost felt like standing in a large oven and being baked alive. Her brow, furrowed, was beaded in sweat as she inhaled the dry air around her and quickly expelled it. After wiping her forehead with the back of her right hand, the girl fumbled to get the khaki knapsack off of her back. Attached to the outside of the pack was a circular canteen. With slightly trembling fingers, the girl unscrewed the glaring black cap and thrust her head backwards, waiting for the cool relief of water to wash down her throat.

Nothing.

Feeling a brief episode of despair wash over her, the girl put the cap back on the canteen and slung the knapsack back over her shoulders. Where exactly she was headed, she did not have a clue. There was not so much a specific destination in mind. She was just looking for a specific individual: her father to be precise. He had to be somewhere and she was bound and determined to find him. Stopping for a second, the girl pulled a hair tie out of her pocket and proceeded to pull back the long, red hair that had been sticking to her neck from perspiration. A horrendous sweat mark ran along the back of her dark orange camisole. Taking a quick glance upwards at the blinding sun, she continued on her journey only to fall to her knees a few minutes later.

A rush of air came from in front of her, blowing sand all around. Sand coated the girl's tongue, choking her. She sputtered and coughed, wishing once more that she still had some water in her canteen. Wiping her steadily tearing eyes with her right forearm, she attempted to stand. It was to no avail. The bright star was sapping her of her energy. She just wanted to give up on her journey. It had been stupid of her to want to look for her father. She despised him anyways. The quaint, abandoned monastery that sat nestled on the edge of the Wildwood Forest had been cozy enough. She should have just stayed there and continued trying to train herself.

Running out of time and hope, the girl crawled forward across the burning sand, scraping up her exposed knees and arms in the process. This was going to be the end. She would never accomplish what she had set out to do. Her mother had been right all along: she really _had_ been foolish to try and do this all by herself. Stubbornness was a trait that she was not happy to posses, but it seemed like it ran in the family. "I'm sorry," she whispered to no one in particular, the back of her throat burning and protesting with every word. "I just wanted to see you again." Without an ounce of strength left in her body, the teenager collapsed, unconscious, in the middle of the Sea of Sand.

A long and bulky shadow lazily made its way across the sand. As it continued on its set course, it eventually covered the area where the girl lay motionless. A flying vessel hovered high above, it's black hull conspicuous in the middle of the day. Tattered sails adorned the masts, somehow managing to keep the ship in the air with the aid of attached boosters. On the upper deck of the vessel stood a man with skin as black as the desolate night sky. His deep red eyes gleamed hungrily as he searched the area ahead. He caught sight of the individual lying sprawled upon the ground and frowned. "Someone is down there," he stated, pointing the girl out to the reptilian crew that surrounded him. "Please, bring them to me."

Feeling absolutely serene in the intense heat of the desert, the snakes hastily obeyed the orders of their captain. Several different colored serpents worked together to rotate the wooden mechanism that would lower the anchor. A bright green snake took this opportunity to climb over the side of the vessel and grab on to the metal chain of the anchor, waiting as his comrades gradually lowered him down. As the object softly hit the sand, the Venomari dismounted it and eyed the girl suspiciously with his one good eye. "It's a girl," he called up, hoisting the limp figure over his left shoulder.

Slowly, he approached the anchor and grabbed on to the thick chain as the other Serpentine worked to raise both him and the newly acquired guest. With swift work, the anchor was hoisted upwards and a serpent with red scales reached down to take the girl from Lasha's possession. The Venomari happily obliged and his friend roughly yanked the girl's arms, dragging her up and over the edge of the vessel. Smirking, the Fangpyre threw her body onto the rough, wooden deck. Her limbs sprawled out awkwardly, but she did not stir.

"What's this?" a Hypnobrai hissed, making his way over to the stranger and tugging on the knapsack that was still secured around her shoulders. With a lot of effort, the grey snake managed to maneuver the shoulder straps of the backpack off of the girl and flipped it upside down, spreading its content out across the deck. There was not much inside. A white camisole that had been rolled up uncurled slightly, showing deep wrinkles. There were several hair ties scattered across the wood and one of the serpent picked them up, flinging them at other crew members. Some spare change that did not seem like it could buy much. A canteen that had been attached to the side of the knapsack sounded hollow when a Constrictai banged on it. The only other object that had been in the bag was a rolled up map, secured with a rubber band.

Being nosy, a black snake removed the rubber band from the map and laid it out. Every Serpentine out on the deck gathered around, casting their shadows down upon the aged and ripped parchment. Ink drawings dotted the paper, depicting mountains, small villages, and even the desert. Several locations on the map had been drawn through with a steady line. Little handwritten notes appeared in the margins saying such things as "never been spotted in the area" and "looked high and low, but nowhere to be found". "She was looking for something," laughed Rattla, his crimson eyes narrowed slightly. "She'll never find it now though."

"What have we found?" bellowed a harsh voice. It emanated from the interior cabin of the vessel, a control room so to speak. The wheel and an electronic map of Ninjago lay within. The previous owners of the ship had put a lot of time and effort into modernizing it for their own needs. A few snakes turned to see their captain staring down at them, his four arms clasped behind his back.

Grinning, a Hypnobrai stood tall, cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify the response. "You should come see for yourself," he hissed, placing a heavy emphasis on every letter "s." He watched with careful eyes as the man turned to grab a gleaming golden object before making his way down towards the main deck.

The door to the control room opened with an ear shattering bang and the black-skinned man emerged, a deep chuckle escaping his lips. "Who do we have here?" he started, trying to get a decent look at the individual through the horde of snakes directly in front of him. This was practically impossible. "Is this the samurai that always aids the ninja?" Frowning, he pushed several serpents out of the way, ignoring their protests and hissing. He knelt down next to the girl, the bone that sat gracefully upon the top of his metal helmet cast an odd shadow over her. The girl's fiery red hair seemed even brighter in the shade.

Raising an eyebrow, he snapped his fingers, commanding a few nearby Constrictai to flip the girl over. They obeyed, roughly tossing the girl down on her back. Pale skin was illuminated by the afternoon sun and dark freckles dotted the girl's cheeks and nose. Her breathing was steady and rhythmic as the man stood up, slowly backing away from the stranger. "No," he breathed, a mixture of both shock and anger evident in his voice. "This can't be…i-it's impossible…"

"What's the matter, Lord Garmadon?" inquired a Fangpyre, the gleaming hue of his scales rivaling that of the girl's hair. This elicited no response from the dark lord and a hush fell over much of the reptilian crew. Wary glances were exchanged followed by soft whispering. Everyone was confused on the current situation. "Shall we throw her in the brig?"

A growl escaped Lord Garmadon's lips and it grew into a frustrated cry. "No," he shouted, turning towards the serpent and giving him a swift smack with the top of his golden staff-like object. "You will not be throwing her in the brig." Breathing slightly labored now, he turned back towards the girl and swallowed hard. "We need to give her water now. One of you take her to the bunks inside immediately." The Serpentine stayed silent for a brief moment, still contemplating what Lord Garmadon was saying. "Did I stutter? I said take her to a bunk _now_!"

"Why, sir?" asked Lasha, his forked tongue hanging slightly out of his mouth. "She may not be the samurai, but she could still be a spy for the ninja!" He looked around for the Constrictai that was holding the map and quickly snatched it away from him. "Look, she's looking for something! Maybe she's helping the ninja find something that will stop your plans!" His voice faltered slightly as Lord Garmadon's gaze narrowed further. Lasha shook slightly, his eye darting back and forth quickly.

Lord Garmadon lunged forward; grabbing the Venomari's left wrist and twisting it hard. The snake gave a small yelp which quickly faded into oblivion as the man released him. "She is _not_ a spy," he yelled, growing tired of the Serpentine that surrounded him. Without another thought, he scooped the girl into his lower pair of arms, using one of his free limbs to push a few loose strands of hair away from her face. The girl grimaced briefly before her facial expression fell placid once more.

"She is my daughter."

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**Well, I know I feel more satisfied with this already than I did with the original one. One thing I want to get out of the way before I continue the story further. My OC is related to a canon character (big whoop, canon relations don't make a character a Mary-Sue. No authors that don't know how to develop characters or their personalities make a character a Mary Sue).**

**Yeah, sorry. I'm just saying. Seriously though, people are too hard on other people's characters before the author actually has a chance to try to develop them. "Related to OC, must be a Mary-Sue. Dating one of the ninja, must be a Mary-Sue". Ridiculous.**

**Well, rant over. Sorry, I'm not usually like that, but I had to get it off of my chest. Reviews are cool. Constructive criticism is welcomed. Updating this every Wednesday. Hope you have a great day and enjoy the premiere of Rebooted tonight. :)**


	2. Amnesia

**Good morning. Here's another chapter.**

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Chapter Two: Amnesia

_Sun was filtering in through the slightly closed blinds that hung on the window, streaking the wooden floor with strips of bright light. She pulled her knees against her chest and rested her chin in between her knee caps, feeling the bones underneath her skin protest. A grimace adorned her face and she sniffed loudly, a sure sign that she had been crying. Soft rapping came from outside of the door and the girl turned her body more towards the window. "Go away," she yelled, her red hair forming a curtain around her face. "I don't ever want to talk to you again!"_

_The door opened despite the girl's whining and footsteps approached. "Honey, don't act like this," came a kind voice. She felt the mattress give way to some weight behind her and the girl turned to see her mother, smiling at her. "You do want to tell your brother goodbye, don't you?" The girl raised her head slowly, just staring at her mother. What used to be light, brunette hair was beginning to grey around the roots and wearing glasses made her look much older than she actually was. With a stubborn look, the girl shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. "Laurie, honestly, you're ten years old now," her tone was beginning to grow tired and sterner. "You're old enough to understand why I have to do this. I'm just doing what's best for both of you."_

_"So you're sending him away?" Laurie cried, the whites of her eyes becoming bloodshot. "You're _sending _him away, but you're _keeping_ me with you?" Anger was building up inside of her veins like pressurized water. "How is that 'best' for anyone? You're abandoning Lloyd, just like father abandoned us. By taking me with you, you're making _me_ abandon him too!" The tears would not stop flowing, streaming down her freckled face like twin waterfalls. Slowly, the drops trickled down over her chin, falling onto the material of her orange tee shirt. "It's not fair!"_

_Ignoring this outburst, Misako stood, waiting by the edge of her daughter's bed. "I'm not abandoning Lloyd. I'm sending him to boarding school where he can learn and grow." Of course the decision had been difficult, and she would have sent Laurie with him if she could have. This school though, it was only for boys. "You've always complained about being cooped up in this house anyways. I thought you would like to travel with me around Ninjago, looking for different artifacts." Noticing that nothing was eliciting a response from the sniffling girl, Misako sighed. "Well, if you're going to tell Lloyd good bye, you'd better do it soon. We're leaving in about half an hour."_

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A soft groan lightly played off her lips as she stirred, attempting to wipe the memory away. She always saw things like that when she closed her eyes: memories she thought she had managed to suppress. With great difficulty, she managed to open her ice blue eyes. Her surroundings were blurry and a headache was making its presence known behind her forehead; from dehydration no doubt. Attempting to sit up, she tipped over slightly, tumbling off of the low lying bunk. The wood paneled floor that had broken her fall was very unfamiliar to her. Rubbing her eyes with the backs of her hands, she managed to make her vision a little clearer.

The room was not terribly big. A bunk bed sat on the other side of the room, identical to the one she had just fallen off of. Other than that there was a small table near a window and a sink. Rubbing her head with her right hand, the girl managed to stand and quickly spotted a glass of water on the table. With her throat aching, she lunged for the glass and gulped down the water quickly. She did not care if it had been sitting there for years; at least she could finally get something to drink. After failing to locate her knapsack, she started heading towards the only door. As the girl reached for the doorknob, it slowly began to turn. Nervous, she backed up, deciding to sit on the bunk she had been laying on.

"Laurie," Lord Garmadon gasped quietly, entering the room and shutting the door firmly behind him. "You should be resting right now. The desert, it did a number on your health." He immediately met her gaze which was narrowed deeply and focused on something other than him. Her knapsack was hanging from his lower right hand and Lord Garmadon stepped forward, offering it to her.

She grabbed her pack and quickly retreated back to the bunk, undoing the clasp and checking through the contents that lay within. Everything was exactly how it had been and nothing was missing. Satisfied with this result, Laurie closed the bag and placed it behind her. "Father," she started, crossing her arms over her chest defiantly. "I've been searching for you." This seemed to come as a shock to the dark lord, whose ruby eyes just widened in response. "Do you know how far I've traveled? How long I've been searching?"

"I'm guessing you've been wandering around for quite some time," he responded, removing the metal helmet that adorned his head. Without much thought, he placed the object on the table, next to the empty glass, before moving to take a seat next to his daughter. Laurie let out a heavy sigh and moved to the farthest end of the bunk, keeping as much space in between them as she possibly could without standing. Her headache was beginning to pound now, making her feel slightly nauseated. "I'm just glad you're okay."

How could he be acting so nice? "I was out there for six months," she stated plainly, refusing to make eye contact with her father. "Just wandering around and looking for you. I started my search back in Ignacia, following reports of odd and supernatural occurrences." Really thinking back on it, she remembered the townsfolk talking about skeletons. "You hadn't been seen though, so I left and headed elsewhere. I've been moving, non-stop, since then."

He placed a hand on Laurie's shoulder and felt her tense up. "That's a long time to be on your own," he sighed, his voice melancholy. "So, is your mother doing alright?"

"Like _you_ would even _care_," Laurie accused, narrowing her eyes. She stood up despite herself, beginning to head towards the door before Lord Garmadon cut off her path. "Why would you even care how _any_ of us were doing, huh? You _left_, father. You just disappeared and I didn't even know why!" The rage that was building up inside of her was terrible, causing the unwanted tears to begin prickling just underneath of her eyes. "No one told me what was happening. Uncle and mother kept everything really quiet and then, a few years later, our family spilt up even more! Mother sent Lloyd off to some _stupid_ _boarding school_ and then took me traveling on her archeological digs." Laurie could see the faint hint of regret and sadness in her father's eyes as he opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. "I know everything now though. How you want to take over the world or something. Well I'm here to tell you that you'll never do it. _I'll_ stop you if I have to. I've been living alone for the past two years, training myself to fight and trying to teach myself Spinjitzu, like Uncle used to talk about."

It was all too much now, his temper beginning to get the best of him. Lord Garmadon grabbed his daughter's right wrist and held tight as she pulled and squirmed to break free from his grip. "I never wanted to leave," he shouted, his teeth clenched together in anger. "Evil runs through my veins and I was banished to the Underworld. Surely you understand that. You said that you know everything now, so how can you fault me for wanting to turn Ninjago in to my own image?" His reasoning did not resonate with the teenager and she just continued to try and pull away from him. _I've been trying to teach myself Spinjitzu, like Uncle used to talk about._ His no good brother always seemed to come back to haunt him. "Learning Spinjitzu won't help you try and 'defeat' me, if that _is_ your true intention," he smirked. "Your brother seems to think it will though."

"Lloyd?" Laurie asked suddenly, her voice becoming softer as she stopped wasting her energy. There was no way she was getting away from her father; his grip was like an iron vice. She tried to picture her younger brother learning such a martial art. He had been five when she had last seen him, but she could not imagine him any older than that. "Where is he? I-I wanted to see him and ,about a month ago, I stopped by his school, but he wasn't there." Her eyes narrowed once more as her father grimaced. "You know where he is, don't you?"

Angrily, Lord Garmadon grabbed Laurie's other wrist before pushing her to the ground. With a gasp, she skidded across the wooden panels of the floor on her back. _Crack! _The edge of the bunk bed made contact with the back of her skull and she stayed down for a little while, her facial expression confused and her eyes somewhat unfocused. Regretting what he had just done, Lord Garmadon quickly knelt beside his daughter, helping her to sit up. Her hand flew up to her head and she lightly placed it on her temple. "Where am I, Dad?" she asked in a daze.

A smile crept up upon the man's face and he attempted to hide it. "You are on a ship, _my_ ship. This is the Black Bounty, sweetie." He pushed the last word out as if it were poison. Without a second of hesitation, Laurie just nodded, accepting this fact. A small smile was plastered onto her face as he continued. "We were just looking for your brother and I think my crew has discovered his location."

There was a drastic change in facial expression and Laurie grimaced slightly, grabbing her head. There was a pressure behind her eyes, similar to a headache. As quickly as the sensation started, it disappeared. "Lloyd?" she questioned, her tone both quiet and urgent. "I haven't seen him in such a long time, Dad. It's been years!" Grabbing one of her father's hands, Laurie just bowed her head slightly. "Where is he?"

The start of a new plan was beginning to take root in his mind and Lord Garmadon gave a large grin, helping the girl to her feet. "I'm afraid that it's worse than anyone could have thought," he sighed melodramatically, glancing out of the corner of his eye to see worry still evident on Laurie's face. Perfect. "Your brother, he's been kidnapped by ninja. I was hoping you could go and rescue him. These villains know me too well. They have disrupted my tries to get Lloyd back day in and day out." The grin began to form into a smirk and the dark lord turned towards the window in the room, attempting to avoid arousing suspicion. "They don't know you exist. You're perfect to snatch your brother out from under their noses."

Lloyd had been _kidnapped_? How could someone have taken him from his boarding school? Laurie narrowed her ice blue eyes, feeling nothing but hatred towards these individuals who had taken her sibling. "I've spent two years living on my own, Dad. I trained myself to fight and I'm starting to try and learn Spinjitzu." With that, she leaned forward, embracing Lord Garmadon tightly. "I think I can help you get Lloyd back."

The dark lord held back a snicker that was building up inside of his throat. Everything was falling into place so precisely; it was almost too good to be true. "I'll have my crew fabricate a suit for you so that you can blend in. The ninja won't be able to refuse help from someone like them. You can search the weapon's cabinet in the control room for anything you would like to take with you." Prying his daughter's arms off of his torso, Lord Garmadon directed her back towards her bunk. "Get some rest, Laurie," giving the girl a light squeeze on her shoulder. "You will need your wits about you when you leave to find the ninja. Be ready for tomorrow." As she lay down, she gave a small nod as acknowledgement, and Lord Garmadon grabbed his helmet off of the table before he turned towards the door. He left the room quickly and locked the door behind him.

"How's your daughter doing?" hissed Lasha, keeping a good distance between himself and the captain. His wrist was still aching from the incident the day before.

Lord Garmadon laughed, the sound somewhat eerie. Several snakes in the immediate vicinity ceased chatting or continuing on with a current task, taken aback by his sudden change in attitude. "Oh, she's better than ever," the man continued, clasping his hands behind his back. "Please, gather the rest of the Serpentine on deck. I have an announcement to make." With that simple command, every serpent that had heard was quickly spreading the word. A wave of different colored scales rushed the main deck, pushing and shoving one another. What this announcement involved was anyone's guess, but it had to be of the utmost importance to stop the daily grind of the Black Bounty crew.

"My followers," Lord Garmadon projected, attempting to get the snakes' attention. A quiet hush fell upon the crowd, much to his relief, and he continued. "It appears that my daughter has gained a bit of amnesia from a bump on the head. She no longer remembers why she came out here. She just knows that she is looking for my son." There were a few premature cheers and bouts of clapping that quickly died away to nothing. Lord Garmadon shook his head before regaining his composure. "I have convinced her that Lloyd has been kidnapped by the ninja and she will bring him back for me. Without Lloyd, the prophecy cannot be fulfilled and _I_ shall rule Ninjago with an iron fist!"

Now the cheers erupted once more from every reptile standing on the deck. There were exchanges of high fives and playful punches as the news sank in. "This is the best plan you've had so far!" commended an orange snake, clapping his hands together enthusiastically. Others approved of this comment and the joyous cries grew louder. "Victory will soon be ours!" cried out another serpent. "The ninja won't even know what hit 'em!"

"Indeed," Lord Garmadon said to himself, feeling the corners of his mouth curl up into a smile. As much as he did not want to admit it, the Constrictai had been correct. This _did_ feel like the best plan he had come up with. Just the shock of Lloyd being reunited with his sister after so many years would confuse him and, hopefully, the ninja. Lord Garmadon only hoped that Laurie would actually be able to pull this off. Pushing that last thought from his mind, he clapped his hands together forcefully, sending another hush of silence over the Serpentine. "Now everyone get back to your posts and begin preparations," he ordered. "Tomorrow the plan will be set into motion."

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**Thanks for reading. Thanks to "Guest" who reviewed last week and said they admire my dedication to go above and beyond. Well I appreciate that, thank ya very much.**

**So...I'll see you guys next week. Toodles. :)**


	3. The Orange Ninja

**Um...this chapter wasn't supposed to be this long. Whoops, sorry.**

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Chapter Three: The Orange Ninja

She watched with weary eyes as several of the serpents on the deck ran back and forth, checking to make sure the sails were drawn taught to help them stay afloat for the time being. Lord Garmadon had cut the power to the boosters a brief moment prior, minimizing the noise they emitted. _We can't let the ninja know that I'm close_, he had told Laurie, a strong hand on her back. _They need to be completely unaware that I have a hand in this little scheme._ Inhaling deeply, the teenager walked over to the edge of the ship, folding her arms down on the shoulder high railing.

Dawn was slowly approaching. A few streaks of golden light erupted from behind a cluster of clouds off in the distant. Laurie gave a short yawn, resting her head down on her arms. She had not slept well last night. There was a constant pressure in her head; sometimes it felt worse than others. She would start to have a dream and during the middle of it she would suddenly wake up, groaning in pain before promptly rolling over. Needless to say, Laurie was not feeling like she had her wits about her. What if the ninja discovered what she was up to and kidnapped her too? "No, I'm not gonna let that happen," she whispered to herself, a pitiful pep talk.

"Quickly, we're approaching the city," Lord Garmadon shouted, descending the stairs from the bridge to the main deck. Hoards of Serpentine parted to allow the temperamental man to pass. His revenge hungry eyes fell upon his daughter who seemed to be deep in thought. Well he could not let that happen. Giving her too much time to think would not be helpful. She might remember something. "Laurie, are you ready to go?" he prompted, hands clasped behind his back.

Laurie lifted her head, spinning around quickly. The sleeve on her right wrist became caught on a loose nail protruding from the railing behind her and she yanked on it. She was definitely not used to wearing a gi. Tank tops had always been her "go to" accessory when training in the monastery. "Yeah, I'm ready," Laurie replied, freeing her arm and adjusting the strap of the holster that held her weapon. She had chosen a bō staff that had been shoved in the back of the closet her dad had told her about. It made sense to her why it seemed lost and forgotten. Why use a weak, wooden weapon where there were so many stronger options to choose from? Laurie was beginning to wonder if she had made a mistake, if she should go back and pick something else to take with her, but it seemed like time was up. Right now it was a staff or nothing.

A gust of wind blew over the deck of the vessel as Lord Garmadon shouted out orders. Laurie pulled her tangled, red hair back in a sloppy ponytail before hastily pulling an orange mask down over her face. Immediately, the skin that was covered by the material felt warmer, the open area around her eyes feeling slightly chilled. At least the mask with thin enough for her to breathe through. It would not have been worth it to suffocate before she could even find Lloyd. Her nerves were quivering inside of her, stomach twisting into knots. What if she could not hold her own against the ninja? They must be highly skilled. Overtaking her would not be difficult. She was only a novice when it came to combat, useless when it actually came to performing Spinjitzu.

"Um…are you gonna go or not?" It was a green serpent, three of his four eyes scarred and mutilated. "We've lowered a rope ladder over the side of the ship." He watched as Lord Garmadon's daughter quickly focused on him before craning her neck to look over the railing of the vessel. "Use the rope to get close enough to a building or something. You're on your own after that." Laurie nodded her head in understanding and Lasha sighed, turning to head back towards his fellow Serpentine. People thought he was dumb sometimes. This girl seemed to have no clue what she was doing.

The skyline of Ninjago City was quickly coming to greet the hull of the Black Bounty. Locating the ladder, Laurie hopped up onto the wooden railing along the ship before slowly descending. A shadow cast across her body made her look up once more, gripping the thick, rope of the rungs in her hands. "Be careful," her dad warned, shouting the advice down at her. "The ninja may not be the only adversaries you have to face. Be wary of anyone you meet and please remember that not all Serpentine can be trusted." Well that did not make any sense. The Serpentine were working for her dad obviously, so why should they not be trusted? Without giving her time to ask any questions, Lord Garmadon gave a stern look before disappearing back onto the deck of the ship.

"Now or never," the teenager whispered to herself, spotting the roof of a building approaching at a frightening speed. Relinquishing her hold of the ladder, Laurie launched herself backwards, attempting to twist her body around in the air to grab onto the side of the rectangular roof. Her right hand caught hold of a drainpipe laid horizontally with the roof. The metal cylinder was slick with early morning dew and she could feel her fingers starting to slip. Just as Laurie tried to use her left hand to aid in a batter grip, she started falling.

The air around her rushed upwards and she opened her ice blue eyes to see the ship she had just been on floating farther away from the city, both rocket boosters at the rear spitting fire. They wasted no time at all making their escape. Something taut broke her fall for a split second before bouncing her on to the ground. Groaning, Laurie managed to pry herself off the asphalt and stand. She probably would have broken some bones if that awning had not slowed her descent. Sure, there were probably some bruises underneath her gi, but at least she could still move around pretty easily. Her hand immediately flew to the weapon on her back and every muscle in her arm relaxed as she felt that the staff was still solid. Excellent.

Now she just had to find out where the ninja were and take Lloyd out from under their noses.

As the sun cast a bright, yellow blanket across the city skyline, Laurie swallowed hard and headed down the closest street near her. This city was rather large, the biggest place she had ever been to. She had to navigate the city _and_ find her brother. A sudden wave of anxiety and stress overwhelmed her and she ducked down an alleyway to stop for a moment and collect herself. "Get it together," she whispered softly, closing her eyes. "You can do this. Dad needs you to do this and Lloyd needs your help."

"Are you lost?" hissed a voice. Laurie did not need to turn around to recognize the speech pattern of a Serpentine. She kept her eyes closed, just giving a small nod. Maybe they would give her some pointers on where to begin her search. "Looking for someone?" Again, the teenager just nodded, beginning to get a grip on her confidence once more. There was something odd though, a strong pressure wrapping itself around her left ankle. Just as Laurie opened her eyes, she was yanked down to the ground, the air knocked from her lungs.

A black snake stood in front of the girl, his winding tail slowly wrapping around the rest of her body. Arms pinned to her sides, Laurie felt her muscles tighten as she struggled to try and move. "W-Who are you?" she choked out, feeling the air slowly being squeezed from her lungs. She was slowly suffocating, she could feel it. Black dots danced gracefully at the edges of Laurie's vision as she continued to squirm for freedom.

The serpent gave a crooked grin, looking very pleased with himself. "A Serpentine General, leader of the Constrictai." A small chuckle filled the air as he used the muscles in his tail to hold the girl upright. He could feel her every movement, attempting to break free, every shallow breath entered her body. The coils tightened and he heard her gasp. "You can call me Skalidor. Who might you be, girl?"

"I-I'm Lord Garmadon's daughter," Laurie coughed, a crippled wheeze following her answer. The words had just flowed out of her. If this snake was working for her dad, it had to know about what she was trying to do. He could help her find the ninja. "So, please, let me go. We're on the same side here." Panic was settling in her throat, a lump that made it hard to swallow, even harder to breathe. The pulse in her neck was pounding with every passing second, her ears ringing with the sound. "Please," Laurie begged once more, "I-I can't b-breathe."

Skalidor seemed interested in her response, his eyes widening slightly. He turned abruptly, dragging Laurie across the dry asphalt as a strong cough erupted from her throat. "Lord Garmadon's daughter? That's news to me. I didn't know Lord Garmadon _had_ another child." His beady eyes scanned the open street in front of him, cautiously checking for any wandering pedestrians. The coast was clear. "Too bad for you that we don't like your father. I can't let you go." He noticed his prey's lack of struggle now. She was weakening. "I don't know what to do with you though, so I'll have to talk with a friend first."

Everything around her seemed to be fading away, slowly slipping away into darkness. Through the background babbling of her captor and the unrelenting blood pounding against her ear drums, the words her dad had told her were beginning to make sense. _Remember that not all Serpentine can be trusted._ Laurie's right hand twitched slightly as she thought about attempting to maneuver her arm around to grab the weapon on her back. It was not worth the thought though. She could not move an inch. "What will your friend want to do with me?" Laurie asked hesitantly. Hopefully this friend would let her go free. Her vision was growing hazy, colors in the environment blending together as her consciousness wavered.

"Who knows," the Constrictai continued, spotting two pairs of gleaming eyes peeking out of a nearby alleyway. "We'll most likely take you with us though. If we can't have Lord Garmadon's son, then having his daughter is the next best thing!" A groan came from behind Skalidor, but he ignored it, continuing onwards. "Fangtom," the short Serpentine hollered indiscriminately, picking up the pace of his gait. "Fangtom, I found Lord Garmadon's daughter and I need your advice on what we should do with her because I don't really –"

A two-headed red and black snake slithered out of the darkened alleyway, both faces communicating annoyance. "Keep your voice down, stupid," he chastised, his Romanian accent evident. "We don't want to be found by the pesky ninja." His two sets of eyes then drifted down towards the girl in Skalidor's grip. "Did you say this was Lord Garmadon's daughter?" the other head questioned, leaning down towards the red head who gave a grimace. "I did not know that Lord Garmadon had a daughter."

He shrugged lightly, maneuvering his tail to hold Laurie upright. "That's what she told me. I guess it's true because I don't know why anyone would just say they're Lord Garmadon's kid." He glanced back at the girl, her head bowed forward lifelessly. Had he killed her? Uh-oh. "She's not dead, is she?" Skalidor quickly panicked, looking desperately at his comrade. If Skales found out about this, then he was as good as dead too. The Constrictai erratically shook his captive, a sudden burst of relief washing over him when she mumbled something incoherently. "Okay, nope, she's not dead. Well, that's good. What should we do with her?"

The Fangpyre slithered forward, ignoring the latter of Skalidor's bumbling words. He knew exactly what to do with her. It had been such a long while since he had gotten to sink his fangs into anything. "We'll make her one of us," he snickered darkly, laying a hand on the side of Laurie's head and another on the top of an exposed shoulder. She winced lightly as he bared a set of fangs and eased in for the bite.

Laurie was happy that she was finally succumbing to the relief of darkness. She did not want to be aware of what was happening when the needle like appendages pierced the pale flesh of her neck. Well, that and the fact that she could have sworn she saw people jumping from rooftops. Yeah, she was definitely hallucinating. Maybe it was time for a nap. The girl's ice blue eyes closed indefinitely as she wondered how everything had ended up going south so quickly.

From somewhere above, a pointed weapon soared down; burying itself into the Constrictai's left shoulder. Taken by surprise, the serpent shrieked, losing his tight grip on his prey. Laurie fell to the warm asphalt, unconscious and motionless. Fangtom narrowed his eyes at his comrade before noticing the oddly crafted piece of metal jutting from Skalidor's shoulder. "We're under attack," he hissed menacingly, taking a split second to try and retrieve Lord Garmadon's daughter from the ground. They had to have her if they could not have the boy.

Searing pain exploded from the red serpent's tail, accompanied by the sticky warmth of trickling blood. Gritting his teeth, the Fangpyre decided to leave her against his better judgment. Another opportunity would arise to blackmail Lord Garmadon. At least, they were always hoping that one would. "Retreat," one head ordered, pushing Skalidor forward along the city street. The smaller serpent reluctantly obliged, large tears streaming down his scaled face. His shoulder hurt so badly! With pent up frustration rising, Fangtom ripped the shuriken from his partner's shoulder before grabbing the one that plagued him. After chucking both weapons carelessly onto the street, the slunk back into the shrinking shadows cast by the many skyscrapers of Ninjago City.

A person clothed in white jumped from a nearby rooftop, landing in a crouch. Dark blue eyes peered out from behind a mask as he scanned the asphalt, quickly locating his weapons. A loud chirp caught his attention as he stowed the twin pieces of metal in a small holster set around his waist. Head cocked to one side, a large falcon sat above on a telephone pole, wings fluttering wildly before it took of once more, soaring over the city. "Thank you, friend," the person replied before quickly attending to the unconscious girl on the ground.

"Zane," yelled a boy clothed in blue, barreling down the street, a set of nunchucks dangling from his left hand. One of the handles bounced around wildly as his steady run continued. "I tried to go after the Serpentine, but I couldn't find them. Probably went down into the sewer or something. What a bunch of cowards." His breathing was heavily labored by the time he reached his friend. Smiling widely, he put his hands on his knees. "I feel like I should be in better shape than this."

The white ninja, Zane, waved away his friend's comment. Now was not the time for such trivial thoughts. "Do not fret, Jay. We will locate the Serpentine in time. For now we must attend to this individual. Fangtom was attempting to turn them." Inspecting the exposed skin on the neck revealed no sign of broken skin. "It appears that he did not get the chance to bite. This is good."

"Hey, he's a ninja too," Jay laughed, hazel eyes wide. "That's really cool, but kinda weird, don't you think? I mean, there shouldn't be any more ninja. It's just us." It finally felt like he was getting enough air into his lungs without hyperventilating. Taking in an unnecessarily deep breath, Jay thought about this mysterious ninja. "Oh, maybe he's like a vigilante or something! You know, like people from comic books that want to help people out, but disguise themselves." Now that he was talking about this out loud, it almost sounded like he was describing himself and his friends. _Naw, we were chosen to do this. Vigilantes aren't handpicked to protect things. They personally choose to do it_. "He's not dead though, right?"

It was a reasonable question.

Sighing, Zane rolled up one of the person's sleeves and felt for a pulse near the interior of the wrist. Sure enough, a weak thud answered him back. "No, he is not dead, but I am not sure if he is breathing." Leaning his head down near the person's face, Zane attempted to look and listen for any sign of breathing. Despite the lack of breathing sounds, the white ninja could see the faint rise and fall of the person's chest. "Jay, I am not so sure that this is a man," he stated plainly, getting back on his feet.

"Well what makes you say that?" his friend questioned, taking the liberty to forcefully remove the unconscious individual's mask. "He's just a-," but Jay cut his own sentence short as bright red hair tumbled to the ground like a fiery waterfall. Delicate features and pale skin stared back at him. _How did Zane know it wasn't a guy_, the blue ninja thought to himself. His curious eyes briefly gazed over her chest before he turned away abruptly. _Oh…gotcha._ "So…um…what do we do with her?"

Zane scooped the girl into his arms, fumbling briefly as something attached to her back prevented him from keeping a good grip on her. "Jay, I think she has a weapon. Can you take it so that I may carry her better?" His brother nodded, slipping the bō staff out of the holster strapped to the girl's back. "Vigilante or not," the nindroid continued, checking once more to ensure that the girl was breathing, "she was prepared to fight. The Serpentine most likely caught her off guard. We will bring her with us to Dareth's Dojo. The others should be there by the time we arrive."

A small shadow passed by and Jay looked up to see Zane's falcon effortlessly gliding by, scanning the streets for any sign of possible shenanigans. It had been a good thing for this girl that the bird had seen she was in trouble. A few seconds later and she could have been a snake. He shuddered as the thought drudged up bad memories, gripping the staff in his hands tightly. Maybe Sensei would feed her some weird kind of tea and then send her on her way. For now though he felt like this orange ninja was their responsibility.

_I mean, she _is _a ninja, or at least a ninja wannabe. She's practically family!_

* * *

**So apparently there's no new Ninjago until March. Oh well, that's a bit of a bummer.**

**Thanks for reading, as always. See you next Wednesday for another update. :)**


	4. Reunion

**It's Wednesday. And I forgot about updating this and I ended up writing it all in a few hours. Whoops.**

* * *

Chapter Four: Reunion

"And you're completely positive that she isn't dead?" questioned a black ninja, leaning back against a wooden wall. With a gloved hand, he brushed some of the hair out of his face, frowning slightly. Both bushy eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. Two of his brothers had just waltzed right into the dojo carrying someone who was dressed like one of them and acted like it was completely nothing. Of course, the girl did not look so good. She was very pale and his amber eyes still lingered over her, looking to make sure she was breathing.

Zane placed a damp cloth across the girl's forehead, watching as she winced in her restless slumber. "Once more, I assure you that she is not dead, Cole," he answered for the third time. He let her be, lying down on a small tatami mat in the corner of the main room. Cole still stood, his arms crossed, near the entrance to the back of the dojo. "She is just unconscious. You know more than any of us how terrible the grip of a Constrictai can be." The raven haired boy nodded in response, averting his gaze to the floor.

"How did you guys manage to find her in time?" a red ninja asked, steadying a suspended sand bag before punching it. The rhythm of training had been interrupted when Zane and Jay had arrived with the girl, but he needed to keep his focus. It was his turn to train Lloyd today and he did not need any distractions. Silence spread on as a reply, the only sound filling the air was the rough thudding of his wrapped fists pounding against the equipment. After a few minutes of continuous punching, Kai ceased his activity and took a seat on a nearby chair. "Well, is anyone gonna answer me?"

Stretching his legs, Jay decided to humor his friend. "I felt the tingling sensation of a damsel in distress and I leapt into action, deciding that I would need Zane to back me up. I was right, as always, and we found the poor girl being attacked by the Serpentine. I heroically swooped down and single handedly saved her, chasing the snakes away. She unfortunately fainted from my smoldering good looks." A small chuckle escaped his throat as he watched Kai roll his eyes, obviously unamused. Jay's hazel eyes softened as his laughter grew. "Oh calm down," he continued, leaning back on his hands. "Zane's falcon found the Serpentine and alerted him. I just happened to be awake so I went with him. No big whoop."

He felt his lips draw into a thin line as he listened to the blue ninja explain what had happened. Cole had a bad feeling about this. The Serpentine had not been spotted in the city for a couple of months now, ever since they had failed in kidnapping Lloyd. With their leader, Skales, behind bars it had seemed like the Serpentine had lost their way. "Something is off," the leader finally said, catching everyone's undivided attention. "The Serpentine are found in the city and then they catch someone dressed like a ninja. It's just weird. No one has _ever_ tried to pass themselves off as one of us, as a ninja." His gaze fell upon the girl once more as she tossed and turned feverishly on the mat. "What if it's some kind of trick? What if they _wanted_ you to save her?"

"We could not just leave her there." Zane approached his friend, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Whether it is a trick or not, it would not have been right to just ignore what was happening." Cole had not been there. He had not seen the hungry glint in Fangtom's eyes as he loomed over the girl. "If it had been you, would you have wanted someone to ignore the fact that you were in trouble?" The black ninja shifted uncomfortably in response to Zane's words, staring at the ground. "I would not have left you to fend for yourself. She needed help, we helped her. That is all."

Kai narrowed his light brown eyes. Everything did seem a little to convenient now that Cole pointed it out. "Ya know what, if Fangtom had turned her, it would have only been another enemy to fight." He leaned back in his chair, the heavily gelled spikes in his hair grazing the glass of Dareth's trophy case behind him. "We have a right to be suspicious though. This wouldn't be the first time the Serpentine tried to catch us off guard. At least this time it wouldn't involve subway cars." Jay visibly tensed up and hugged his knees to his chest, most likely remembering the utter fear and trauma that had accompanied almost being crushed to death.

"If everyone is so worried about this, why don't we just go and talk to Sensei," rebutted the blue ninja, glancing around at his friends. "There's no harm done. If he says to just send her on her way, we'll do that." Without waiting for a reply, he stood on the spot. It was always easier to have someone else make a decision. He was not a leader and he could not always make up his mind, so why not just ask Sensei? He always knew what to do! "If we go now we can decide what to do before she even wakes up. It'll make it easier on all of us. No one has to fight about it because Sensei will help us."

For once Jay was making complete sense. "Alright, then," Kai agreed, rising from his seat. His eyes met Cole's and the black ninja gave a visible nod. "Seems like the most reasonable thing to do. Let's go see Sensei, talk to him, and come right back. Hopefully we'll be able to get back before Lloyd shows up. The pipsqueak was running a little late this morning anyways." The beads that hung down from the doorway that led to the back half of the building parted, catching the red ninja's attention. A man stepped through; a gold medallion that sat upon his bare chest glinted in the natural light. "Oh, Dareth, we're gonna go see Sensei real quick. If Lloyd shows up, tell him we'll be back soon. It shouldn't take too long."

The dojo owner waved away this statement and watched as the ninja hastily made their way out of the front door, a single bell signaling their exit. He glanced down at the floor and noticed an unconscious girl sprawled across a mat. "I'm not even going to ask," he muttered to himself, quickly checking his reflection in the trophy case that sat across the room before returning to the back of the dojo.

* * *

_"What do you mean by that? He _has _to be here! This is the stupid school my mother sent him to!" She glanced down at the crudely written note she had hastily scrawled in a burst of anger. The letters were barely discernible, but she was positive that this was the place. Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Boys. Now the principal was telling her that Lloyd was not even here. "He's enrolled here, I swear he is," the red head tried again, crossing her arms over her chest. "Kids don't just disappear, so where is Lloyd?"_

_The aging man narrowed his beady eyes and leaned back in his office chair, hands clasped firmly in his lap. "It is like I said, Lloyd Garmadon is not here. That is the end of it."_

_There was a mixture of devastation and rage welling up inside of her. None of this would have ever happened if her mother had just kept the family together. If this man, the head of the school, did not even know where Lloyd was, how was she ever going to find him? "So you have no clue where my brother is?" she asked tiredly, feeling the devastation start to take over. "Not even an idea of where he could have gone?"_

_"No, and I could not even begin to care where he went. He caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to the school which took quite some time to repair." This elicited a chuckle from the girl standing opposite of him, but he ignored it and continued on. "He wasn't a very exemplary student either. Not up to the standards of Darkley's. Wherever Lloyd is, he's probably pulling a childish prank and further desecrating what it truly means to be 'bad'." His former student's sibling opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. "He's not my problem anymore, so no more questions."_

_With a disgruntled look, Laurie turned away and walked out of the office door._

* * *

There was a slight pressure on her forehead and Laurie opened her eyes slowly. Bright light streamed into the room, the very unfamiliar room, illuminating everything nicely. A sudden realization crept over her and she sat up quickly, looking around for the two snakes that had last had her. Warm and damp, a white rag fell off of Laurie's head and landed in her lap. Would deranged serpents take the time to tend to her after kidnapping her? Grabbing the rag with her right hand, the girl tossed it down onto the floor. She immediately ran both hands across the skin of her neck, thin fingers checking for any sign of broken skin. Everything felt like it was intact. _Yeah, but where am I?_

A bell attached to the door jingled. Laurie felt her heart start racing and she crawled over to a pile of stacked cinderblocks. Judging by the décor of the building she was in, and the weapons that seemed to be carelessly strewn about, Laurie assumed she was in a training facility. How did she end up here though and where had those snakes gone? Every breath came in shallow as she watched someone slowly examine the room. They were clothed in a green gi, face hidden behind a mask. "Hello, is anyone here?" the person called out, voice higher than Laurie was initially expecting. Were the ninja her dad had told her about actually just a bunch of kids? This would be easier than she thought.

"They're all out right now, kid!" She narrowed her ice blue eyes as a man with an outrageous hairdo stepped out from another room. He was clothed completely in brown and had an egotistical air about him. "Kai said they'd all be back really soon; had to go talk to your Sensei about something." The man gave the ninja a quick pat on the shoulder before turning to head back to the back of the building. "Holler if you need anything, kid!"

He gave a small sigh, watching as Dareth went back to his office or whatever it was that was back there. Did the guys just decide to bail on him? He had not run into any of them on the way to the dojo. "Wonder how long ago they left," he mumbled to himself, giving a soft kick to the air as a shadow suddenly loomed over him. There was an arm around his neck, pulling him backwards. A cry stuck in his throat and he tried to pry his way free from his assailant.

"Stop squirming," a voice behind him commanded. It was a girl. Who was she and how had she managed to get into the dojo without Dareth noticing her? He sent a hard kick backwards and heard the girl inhale sharply. "Do that again and I'll make you wish you hadn't." Her voice sounded shaky and less assertive this time, but the pressure around his neck grew heavier and he choked slightly. "I have one question and one question only. If you answer it, I might let you go free." The room went silent before she spoke once more, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Where is Lloyd Garmadon?"

Wait, what?

He kicked backwards once more, feeling as his captor loosened her grip to collect herself. Slipping out of the choke-hold, the green ninja rushed forward before spinning around. The girl was on her knees, looking worse for wear. She was older than he was though, probably around the same age as the guys. There was something familiar about her though. He just could not place a finger on it. "Why do you want to know?" he challenged, clapping his hands together.

"I want him back," she spit, shakily getting to her feet. Her eyes scanned the floor before she reached behind her. Obviously frustrated now, she let a growl escape her lips. "My dad told me all about you. How you kidnapped Lloyd." She took a step closer and he drew his hands apart, concentrating on the slight energy he could feel building up. A tiny spark of green light winked at him before vanishing. He really had to get a better handle on his powers. "I just want him back. Just tell me where my brother is and I'll leave you be."

The beads in the doorway rattled once again as Dareth entered the room. "I heard some racket and I just wanted to see if everything was-" his voice trailed off as he saw the girl from the floor and the smallest ninja staring at each other. "Um…am I interrupting something?" the dojo owner questioned. In response, both kids narrowed their eyes in an eerily similar fashion. "I'll just go then. Still, call me if you need anything." He hastily left the room, leaving the tension in his wake.

_Just tell me where my brother is and I'll leave you be_.

He saw the resemblance now. Of course. She had been so much smaller before, but so had he. The icy glances and tear streaked face had been the last thing he remembered of her before she had left. Then he had been at boarding school ever since then. Why was she here now? It had been years since they had been together. Her freckled nose twitched impatiently as she lunged forward gripping his gi tightly and lifting him off of the floor. "I'm not kidding around," Laurie threatened. "Tell me where Lloyd is or I _will_ hurt you."

Grabbing on to her arm with one hand, he managed to remove his mask with the other.

She immediately dropped him, watching as he managed to gracefully land in a crouch. Blonde hair clung to his forehead with sweat and his emerald green eyes held a glint of mischief. He had grown of course, but he somehow still looked the same. The same little boy that had been shipped off to boarding school. The same little boy that wanted to grow up to be just like dad. "Y-You are, but how…and…dad said that…why?"

"It's been a long time, sis. Why don't we catch up?"

* * *

**Just a reminder, this story will not be updated again until next FRIDAY.  
We're moving to Fridays, people. I'm going to start publishing a new story next Wednesday because it's really neat and I'm having a lot of fun writing it. So why not?**

**Thanks for reading. See you next Friday. :)**


	5. Entranced

**I didn't think I was going to get this update up in time. With a mixture of sheer willpower and my favorite playlist on my phone, I managed to crank this out. I'm actually pretty happy with it. I like it better than the original version. Then again, I like this whole version much better than the original. That's why I'm rewriting it all...**

* * *

Chapter Five: Entranced

Lloyd pulled his knees up to his chest and let out a sigh. "Yes, initially I guess you could say it _was_ kidnapping, but when I look back on it now, it was for the best." His sister did not understand the situation at hand. She had been adamant that they leave and find a safer place to talk, before the ninja came back and found them. _I have to get you out of here,_ she had stressed. _We'll find dad somehow and then the ninja won't be able to hold you hostage anymore._ "I was being stupid, listening to Pythor. He didn't care about me like I thought he did. When Uncle and the guys caught me, I was scared at first, yeah. I've grown up a lot since then, Laurie. I've come to realize that they aren't bad people. If anyone is bad, it's dad."

She had never heard him talk like this before. The little blonde boy that had sat on the floor of her bedroom, talking endlessly about their dad and how he was going to be just like him when he grew up seemed like a distant memory now. "You can't mean that," Laurie challenged, readjusting her sitting position. Both legs felt numb and tingly from being underneath her body weight for too long. "They took you when you didn't want to be taken, Lloyd. _That's kidnapping!_ You have to try and see it for what it is. There's no getting around it."

"You seem…different, Laurie," the young boy commented, his face falling.

Her eyes widened for a split second. They were _both_ a little different, right? It had been five years since they had seen each other after all. People could change over time and, as she looked down at her sibling, Laurie was noticing that Lloyd had changed significantly. "What do you mean?" she snapped lightly, crossing her arms over her chest, the sleeves of her orange gi bunching up around her elbows. "Of course I'm different. I've been learning to fight and trying to hone my skills to learn Spinjitzu. You remember just as well as I do, all the stories Uncle used to tell us about Spinjitzu Masters and stuff when we were younger. I'm not _different_, Lloyd. I've just grown up a little bit, like you did."

Emerald irises swept across the floor before landing on Laurie. "So, what's with the outfit?" Lloyd questioned. He wanted to try and talk openly with his sister as much as possible for the others returned. Deep down inside, the green ninja knew that having his sister around would only spell disaster in the eyes of his friends. It seemed like almost everyone in his family came off as untrustworthy initially. The only reason he had been kept safe immediately after being taken in by the ninja was because of Sensei Wu. If they had not been related, who knows what the guys would have done with him. A small shiver ran up his spine as he reminisced about being hung from a sign post after threatening Jamanakai Village with his can of fake Serpentine.

"Dad said I would need to blend in with your kidnappers," Laurie shrugged. A shadow of confusion crossed her face for a brief moment before dissipating. "If a fellow ninja showed up, they would have no reason to turn me away or doubt me. It seems like pretty sound logic and dad seemed to know what he was talking about. I mean, he knows more about these guys than I do." Her red hair fell off of her shoulders and dangled down above her chest. "Can we continue talking as we leave, Lloyd? I still need to get you out of here."

"Maybe you aren't so different," the blonde scoffed, getting to his feet and adjusting the small, black gloves that adorned his hands. "You still seem as stubborn as I remember. There is something though, something that's bugging me and I think I've figured out what it is." He approached the girl and knelt before her, squinting his eyes as he examined her freckled face before focusing on her eyes. She leaned back slightly, looking apprehensive and unnerved. "You look okay to me, I guess. You said you were attacked by snakes? What did they look like?"

What was this, twenty questions? "One was red and had two heads. The other was shorter, almost all black. I don't understand what that has to do with anything, Lloyd. Let's just leave while we still have the chance."

"I told you I wasn't kidnapped," the young boy repeated tiredly. He sat back down, crossing his legs and resting his hands on his knees. "You've never, ever called him 'dad' before," Lloyd stated plainly, watching as his sister opened her mouth to protest. "Don't try and argue or anything. Like I said, you're really stubborn. You don't just change your mind about something. It's been a while since we've seen each other, but we're not strangers, Laurie. You've _never_ called him 'dad'. Are you sure you're okay?"

_You're fine_, her conscious mind replied almost immediately. "Lloyd, there's nothing wrong with me, okay? Stop trying to stall. Let's go bef-" A strong pressure materialized behind her forehead and Laurie gritted her teeth to the uncomfortable sensation. Her brother was by her side, a hand on her shoulder. He was speaking to her, but she just was not able to pay attention to the words flowing from his mouth. _You've never, ever called him 'dad' before_. The statement seemed to ring true, but she knew that it could not be. The pressure vanished and Laurie let out a breath she had not realized she had been holding. Concern blanketed Lloyd's face and he raised an eyebrow. "I-I'm fine," Laurie answered, feeling unsure of herself. "I'm fine."

The small ringing of the bell on the door sounded and the Garmadon siblings immediately turned to see who had entered the dojo.

"Lloyd, are you here?" came a hurried voice. The young boy stood instantaneously, finding his nindroid brother gazing around anxiously. "Oh, thank goodness you are safe. The Generals have been spotted in the city again and we were not sure where you were. The others have gone ahead to look for the Serpentine, but I wanted to find you first." His dark blue eyes fell upon the red head who was scrutinizing him with narrowed eyes. "You are awake," Zane managed with a small smile. "How are you feeling?"

Laurie could practically feel Lloyd's gaze boring into her. She had to keep her cool and just play along, like her dad had told her too. She would convince Lloyd sooner or later to come with her, but until then she needed to gain his captors' trust. "I've felt better," she replied honestly. The muscles in her chest and abdomen were very sore and felt strained. Every so often, her breath would catch on feel as if her lungs were on fire once more. "Thank you for helping me though. I appreciate the kindness." Laurie could hear Lloyd exhaling deeply and assumed that she had said something that he approved of.

The white ninja nodded and turned back towards the door before stopping. "My brothers and I inquired about your presence with our Sensei. He said that you were permitted to stay until you are feeling better, though he would like to ask you some questions about the Serpentine when you are feeling up to the task." Lloyd gave a small tug on Zane's sleeve as he finished speaking, pulling the green mask down over his face. "I am afraid you cannot come, Lloyd," the Ninja of Ice said gravely. "This is the second time today Serpentine have been seen in the city. They are probably looking for you. Please stay here with, um…"

"Laurie," the girl answered, getting to her feet slowly. "I have no problem looking after him. We've just been talking since I woke up anyways." Her ice blue eyes met her brother's and she gave a small smirk. "I feel like I'm really starting to get to know him better."

With that, Zane shot the young ninja a look of warning before exiting the dojo and rushing down the street. "I can't believe you just took his side like that," Lloyd pouted, throwing his hands up in defeat. "They _never_ let me do _anything_, Laurie. I'm 'too important' and 'inexperienced'." He watched as his older sibling just gave a small shrug. "Well, I'm going anyways. You can come with me, or you can stay here. I'm not going to let the Serpentine just cause havoc in the city. It's _my _responsibility to protect Ninjago just as much as it's _theirs_."

"Lloyd, wait a second," his sister attempted to reason. "Despite being kidnappers, they seem like they care about your safety." _Of course that could also be because they don't want you to escape without them noticing_, her thoughts finished. "If I have to stay and talk with their Sensei, I need to keep on their good side." _Or else they'll keep me captive too and then I'll never be able to get you out of here._ She shook her head briefly, trying to knock the negative thoughts from her head. Nothing was going to work if she could not be confident in what she was doing. "You can't just go off all willy nilly, parading around town after I promised that I'd wat-"

_Ring._

Lloyd was sprinting down the street, leaving his sister in his wake. The bell on the door reverberated slightly in the distance. As much as she thought she was doing the right thing, trying to take him to their dad, he could not just let her get away with it. He would rather take his chances with the Serpentine than return to Lord Garmadon. Had his dad not already put him through so much already? First there was _him_ and now his estranged sister? Lost figures from his past seemed to be coming from everywhere. "Sorry, sis," he whispered to himself, breathing labored as he ran. "I'm a ninja too. I have to help."

"Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon, get your butt back here!" Laurie cupped her hands around her mouth to amplify the shout, but her brother ignored her, turning down a street up ahead and disappearing from view. An exasperated groan filled the air and Laurie frantically returned to the interior of the dojo, searching for the staff she could not find earlier. After minutes of searching the ground and corners of the room, she found the wooden weapon propped up against the trophy case. Hands shaking from adrenaline, the girl burst out of the building and went to follow the small, green ninja.

He could not have gotten far. It should not be difficult to find him. Then again, the city was very large. Laurie would not be surprised if she ran around the streets for hours and did not bump into her brother or his ninja _friends_. "When I find you, it's straight back to dad," she mumbled, traversing the sidewalk purposefully, eyes scanning for any sign of Lloyd. "I don't care if I have to drag you back kicking and screaming."

An enraged cry sounded from somewhere close and, despite any better judgment, Laurie decided that she needed to see where it originated from. Taking the street down to the interaction, the girl turned right and immediately backtracked a few steps, plastering her back to the building behind her. It was that black snake from earlier. His name escaped her, but his actions did not. Laurie could feel the ghostly sensation of his tail squeezing the life out of her and shivered. If she could avoid him and his two-headed pal again, she would. It looked like a black ninja and a red ninja were engaging him in combat anyways. They probably had it covered.

"Lloyd," the girl called out once more, deciding to take a different street. "It's probably not safe out here." _It definitely isn't safe out here_. "Let's just go back to the dojo and we can talk some more. Just talk, I promise." Uneasiness was creeping up on her. There could be Serpentine anywhere, just waiting to jump out and bite her or try and strangle Lloyd to death. "L-loyd, where are you?"

She ducked down an alleyway to try and collect herself for a moment. Who knew that this whole ordeal was going to be this stressful? She had just anticipated that she would swoop in, get Lloyd, and leave before anyone was the wiser. Now there were serpents and her brother was being less than cooperative about the whole thing.

"Are you looking for someone?" hissed an unfamiliar voice that placed a hard emphasis on the word "someone".

Spinning on her heel, the teenager looked to see who was confronting her. It was a dark blue snake, his scales splashed with swirling yellows patterns and his eyes a deep ruby hue. Gripped tightly in both of his hands was a golden staff that reflected the intense light of the sunset. A jewel that seemed to compliment his navy colored scales was embedded within the artifact, underneath an intricately carved cobra head. _Not more snakes_, she thought desperately, taking a step backwards.

"Yeah," the girl replied slowly, feeling her right hand grip the lower end of the staff that sat holstered on her back. She did not know if she would need to use it, but she had to be prepared for anything. "I thought someone I knew had come this way, but I was clearly mistaken." She tried to gaze around the snake, looking to see if Lloyd was somewhere out in the street, but she could not see him. "I guess I'll have to look for him somewhere else then. Well, nice meeting you, but I should be going now. My, um, brother is expecting me." She gave a small smile, her hand still on her weapon, before moving to walk away.

"No need to go searching any farther," the snake chuckled, effectively moving to block Laurie's path. He could visibly see her muscles stiffen in surprise. No, she was not going to get away that easily, not after she was just here in the open. It seemed like she did not even know who he was. Perfect. "I could assist you in finding whoever you're looking for, Miss Garmadon," he smirked, forked tongue slightly visible.

How did he know who she was? "Wait, that's impossible," Laurie challenged, feeling a sense of dread creep up inside of her. Laurie once more recalled her dad telling her that not all Serpentine were loyal to him. Maybe this snake was just one of the few that followed her dad. That would explain how he knew who she was. "Who are you though?" she managed to ask.

"Me? I am Skales of course. The General of the Hypnobrai Tribe," he rattled his tail as his piercing red eyes began to glow brighter. The girl before him looked confused and slightly afraid. She took a step backwards, her pale blue eyes still locked with his, and managed to unsheathe her staff from its holster. "There's no need for that," Skales stated plainly, gripping the center of Laurie's weapon and giving it a hard tug. She fought back initially, her hands wrapped around the wooden stick tightly, but she ultimately relinquished her hold on her weapon. Skales gave a small laugh.

The girl was falling under his spell.

She was scared. Not only did she not have her staff anymore, but it felt like she could not even move. Why had she even let Skales take the weapon anyways? _This isn't right_, she thought desperately. _You need to get out of here. You need to find Lloyd_. "I-I need to go and find…" Laurie started to say, but her voice trailed off. Who was she talking about? Her mind felt absolutely exhausted, like it did when her mother was attempting to cram archaeological knowledge down her throat. _You need to move_, her conscious mind protested. Laurie tried desperately to take a few more steps backwards or even turn her gaze away from the snake, but she could not. It was like she was frozen on the spot.

"Is something the matter?" Skales teased. It was always more enjoyable when his victim was not aware of what was happening. The glint of fear in their eyes that was eventually snuffed out as their mind blissfully drifted away. He could see it now, plain on the girl's face: her internal struggle, trying to make sense of what was happening to her. "Just relax. I won't hurt you," Skales grinned.

At least he said he would not hurt her. That made Laurie feel better about the whole situation. "Okay," she replied softly. Now she felt really drained, like she needed to go and take a quick nap. Clusters of black dots were crowding the edges of her vision and she attempted to blink them away, but they seemed to be multiplying. Slowly, but surely, Laurie was being consumed by darkness. It was not as scary as it had first been. She was honestly too spent to even care anymore. When blackness finally overcame her, Laurie was relieved. At least now she could finally get some rest.

Skales watched happily as his victim's eyes glazed over, her irises turning a deep red hue. "I control you now, girl," Skales hissed, the corners of his mouth pulling up into a wide smile. "You obey my orders and my orders alone."

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**Yeah. I can't remember if I said this before, but I probably did. This story is updating Fridays now and my new one, Shattered Realities, is taking Wednesday updates. Hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading. See you next Friday (or Wednesday). Have a good weekend. :)**


	6. Truths Uncovered

**Happy Friday. Continuing my odd streak of making this a little different from the original version chapter by chapter. Still not sure if that's a good thing. I'm pretty satisfied. What's your opinion?**

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Chapter Six: Truths Uncovered

"Why are you out here, Lloyd?" Kai growled, landing a hard kick to Skalidor's abdomen. The serpent doubled over in pain, releasing Cole from his vice-like grip. Scrambling to his feet, the Ninja of Earth gave his spiky haired brother a hard pat on the shoulder before retrieving his scythe and standing in front of the smaller ninja. "Zane was supposed to make sure you were out harm's way. Where is that nindroid anyways?"

Lloyd crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. "You were _supposed_ to help train me today, Kai," he interjected, trying to move around Cole to be part of the fight. The leader held out the curved blade at the end of his weapon, blocking the boy's path and shooting him a wary glance. Lloyd took a few steps backwards, letting out an over-dramatic sigh. Was it really so terrible that he wanted to help them? There was nothing better to learn from than hands on experience, right? "Come on, guys. I'm the Legendary Green Ninja. Eventually I'll have bigger fish to fry than these stupid snakes."

A shaky laugh came from off to the group's left. Lloyd turned to see Jay, ducking underneath Fangtom's staff as the serpent jabbed it towards his head. "Tough luck, Dracula," the blue ninja taunted, whipping his nunchucks over his head before thrusting them towards the Serpentine. Both of Fangtom's heads shouted in pain as the weapon cracked against his chest. Jay had a specific aversion to Fangpyre's now. The mere sight of them sent chills down his spine, but he would not let that stop him from fighting the good fight. How would evil fall if he was too busy worrying about his own fears? Noticing his brothers nearby, he fell back to regroup with them. "Why's the pipsqueak here? I thought the whole point in protecting him was to _not_ let him get in danger in the first place."

"This isn't too dangerous, guys," the green ninja scoffed, realizing that his brothers were forming a sort of barrier around him. "It's not like we haven't fought the Serpentine before and it probably won't be the last time either."

Out of virtually nowhere, Acidicus was skidding across the warm asphalt on his back. The Venomari let out a low groan before trying to get upright once more. Lloyd stood on his tiptoes, focusing on the space between Cole and Kai's shoulders. Zane was steadily approaching, his shurikens spinning in his hands. Where had he come from? "Hey, Frosty," Cole yelled, dodging Skalidor's tail once more and thrusting the blunt end of his scythe downwards. The Constrictai gave a small cry, backing away from the ninja for a brief moment. "Care to tell us why Lloyd is here and not someplace safer?"

"He is perfectly safe, Cole. I left Lloyd back at the dojo with our guest. She said that she would…" His voice trailed off as the small, blonde head of Lloyd Garmadon poked its way in between Kai and Cole. The young boy gave a small wave, a mischievous smile plastered on his face. This was not good at all. "I left him back at the dojo, I can assure you," the Ninja of Ice defended, quickly closing the distance between himself and his brothers. "Running off on your own is irresponsible, Lloyd. You could have gotten caught by the Serpentine before you found us." The green ninja rolled his eyes in response and crossed his arms over his chest. "Did Laurie just let you leave? Perhaps I should not have been so quick to trust her."

"She didn't _let_ me leave, Zane," Lloyd corrected, noticing the Serpentine beginning to close in around the group. "I just kind of ran off. She followed me, I'm sure of it."

Someone followed Lloyd? Who? "What are you guys talking about?" Kai asked, gripping the hilt of his sword with both hands and swinging the weapon out in front of him, causing a still disoriented Acidicus to back off quickly. "Who is following you, Lloyd?"

A sharp elbow in his right side made Kai grunt in pain, but it was only Jay, trying to get his attention. "Guys, look." The group turned to follow the blue ninja's gaze. Slowly approaching from down the street was what appeared to be a large, blue serpent, its scales reflecting some of the sunlight. Kai felt his breath catch for a second before a flood of anger overwhelmed him. He should not have been here. He was supposed to be locked up. "W-What's Skales doing here?" Jay questioned, watching the Hypnobrai draw closer. "He was in prison. How did he get out of prison?!"

"I don't know, but he's not alone," Cole pointed out, readying his scythe. Kai placed an open hand above his brow in an attempt to block out the light. His brother was right; the general was not by himself. Someone was walking slightly behind him, a weapon gripped tightly in their hands, red hair blowing wildly in the breeze. He felt like he had seen this person before, but Cole managed to fill in the missing information. "It's that girl from earlier! The one Zane and Jay brought to the dojo." Cole immediately glanced over at his robotic friend. "You _had_ to bring her back with you. Just like I thought, it _was_ a trap because she's obviously working _with_ the Serpentine."

_She followed me, I'm sure of it._

Kai turned to face Lloyd. "Is she the one that's following you?" The boy just nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but the Ninja of Fire had already turned his light brown eyes on Zane. "You left Lloyd with someone we don't even know? That was really _irresponsible_, Zane," he continued, reiterating what the nindroid had told Lloyd earlier. "You're supposed to be the smart one!"

"Leave him alone," Lloyd interjected, giving the red ninja a light punch to the arm. This immediately caught his attention and he whirled around, nearly knocking the boy over, fire blazing in his eyes. "She wasn't doing anything to try and hurt me, Kai." _Take me away, sure, but not try and _hurt_ me_, he thought. "We were just talking when Zane showed up. She promised to watch me, but I wanted to come help you guys so I ran after Zane." There really was not much more to it. It was all the truth, yet there Laurie was, flanking the Hypnobrai General. She had said she wanted to bring him back to their dad, so why was she with the Serpentine?

Skales stopped where he was, watching as his comrades formed a half circle along the back of the ninja. They were cornered now. "It seems we are evenly matched in numbers," the Hypnobrai smirked, gripping his staff tightly. "The fight will be a long one unless you give us the boy willingly, ninja." He watched as his enemies effectively moved around Lloyd, blocking him from view. It was always more fun to just take what he wanted by force anyways. "Suit yourselves then," Skales sighed lightly, turning to the girl on his right. "Well, bring me the boy."

Laurie rushed forward, the grip on her weapon intense. Jay watched with wide eyes as she sprinted towards them, planting her feet firmly on the ground before swiping her bō towards them. The Ninja of Lightning managed to duck, but Kai was not so lucky. He fell to a knee, using the blade of his sword to help keep him from collapsing to the ground completely. Zane leapt in between Lloyd and Laurie defending the boy. She had not seemed this hostile back at the dojo. Laurie crouched down, spinning around with her right leg out, catching the white ninja off guard for a brief moment. He felt the asphalt meet his back hard and sucked in a breath.

A rough hand grabbed the front of his gi and Lloyd tried to squirm out of his sister's grip. "Why are you helping them, Laurie? You said they attacked you earlier!" His gaze met his sibling's for a moment and he gasped. Laurie's irises were a piercing red color. _What a dirty trick_. Lloyd kicked upwards, into his sister's forearm and watched as she released him, grabbing at the injury. Jay brought his nunchucks down on her shoulder and she fell for a second before scrambling to get back up. "Guys, she's been hypnotized!" Lloyd shouted, backing away from Laurie quickly as she recomposed herself, lunging towards him.

"I still have the melody of the Sacred Flute recorded on my hard drive," Zane replied in a hurry. Jay helped his ice brother to his feet while Kai blocked the red head's path. The blade of his sword pressed hard against the girl's staff, the two seeing who would be the first one to weaken. Prying open a hinged compartment on his left forearm, Zane quickly glanced over the buttons and knobs that were wired into his circuitry. It had been a few months since they had used the recording on the Great Devourer. Which button activated the melody again?

Skales felt a sudden burst of anxiety burst through him. "Stop the robot," he commanded, banging the end of his intricately carved staff on the ground.

Kai stumbled forward slightly as the girl backed away from him, now heading towards Zane. "Look out," the red ninja shouted, falling hard on the ground. A pained groan escaped his lips and he turned his upper body around to see the sneaky Constrictai holding him back, tail wrapped around his right ankle. Twisting his body, Kai managed to grip his sword, swiping downwards at the Skalidor's tail. Scarlet blood dripped out of the fresh wound and the serpent gave a strangled cry. Getting back on his feet, the Ninja of Fire returned his attention towards his friends.

His arms were wrapped around his abdomen and Jay sucked in a breath. Light brown eyes flickered between the blue ninja on the ground and Zane, who was using his shurikens to block the hypnotized stranger's attacks. Letting out a loud sigh, Kai turned towards Jay, kneeling beside him. "I-I'm fine," the Ninja of Lighting coughed, giving a forced smile. "Just a hard kick to the stomach was all. She really knocked the wind out of me." His hazel eyes gleamed from underneath of his mask. "Go help Zane."

"Is Jay alright?" Cole raced over, scythe gripped in his gloved hands. Kai glanced up and nodded, setting the leader at ease. "Sorry, I was held up a little by some of the other snakes. You know, trying to protect the sole hope of Ninjago's future and all." Mentally slapping himself, the red ninja jumped to his feet and gazed around quickly. Where was Lloyd now?

He had a clear shot and he had to it quickly. Clapping his hands together, Lloyd could feel energy within himself being harnessed. Laurie's back was to him, spinning around and trying to find a moment to catch Zane off guard and disarm him. The nindroid kept his calm though, parrying the girl's attacks in a defensive manner. _This is going to hurt you a lot more than it's going to hurt me,_ the green ninja thought, glancing down to see a small sphere of green energy manifesting in his palms. _Sorry, sis_. Taking a small step forward and steadying himself, Lloyd pushed the ball of energy towards his entranced sibling.

It happened so quickly.

Laurie suddenly dropped to the ground, diving off to the right. Zane distracted by this sudden movement, followed her with his dark blue eyes. A strong force against his chest brought him back to reality. Stumbling backwards, the nindroid fell to a knee, watching as blue sparks danced around his arms and hands. He coughed, his vision beginning to fade in and out of focus. He could see Lloyd surging towards him, worry plain on his face. "Zane, stay with me," the boy shouted, shaking his brother's shoulders. "I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I was just aiming for Laurie, trying to stun her." Zane was trying to make sense of what had occurred, but darkness was creeping up on him. He closed his dark blue eyes and fell unconscious.

"Lloyd, what did you do?!" Cole was running towards the boy. Kai was following closely behind, Jay's arm slung over his shoulder. The three made it to their friends, eyes bouncing back and forth between the nindroid and the green ninja. Small electric sparks erupted from around Zane's neck and Cole narrowed his amber eyes indefinitely. "What did you do?"

The green ninja turned towards the leader, emerald eyes wide. "I-I hit him with an attack. I didn't mean to though, it was an accident! I think I shorted him out." This was not good, not good at all. It looked like Zane had shut down completely. The recording though! They needed it to break Laurie from her trance. Now if they wanted to help her they would have to wait until Jay could take a good look at Zane's circuitry. Or…

Kai rolled his eyes, listening to the smallest member of the team try and explain his way out of the situation. Hurried footsteps approached from behind and he ducked, dragging Jay down with him. As the blue ninja let out a surprised cry, he glanced upwards, watching as a wooden staff glided gracefully over their heads. "This ends now," the Ninja of Fire growled, leaving Jay slightly disoriented on the ground before facing the girl behind him. She gave a small smirk, her freckled nose crinkling slightly and red eyes gleaming. Honestly, he did not care if she really was working with the Serpentine or a pawn in the entire scheme of things. In the few hours that she had shown up, terrible things had started happening. He was going to put a stop to all of this right now.

Rushing towards her, Kai watched as the girl swung her staff down low, trying to take his feet out from under him. Giving a smirk of his own, the red ninja jumped over the attack and brought his sword down towards her head. She rolled off to her left, leaving the blade to strike the barren asphalt of the street. Both teenagers on their feet, they started circling one another, locked in a dance of combat. Laurie took the end of her staff and feinted towards Kai's left. He fell for the distraction, moving to block the weapon as the girl spun around, whipping the staff behind her back before bringing it around towards Kai's right arm. The red ninja jumped backwards, narrowly missing the attack. A strong force pushed him back against the street and he held his arms up in front of himself to keep balance.

Kai ran back towards her, jabbing his sword towards her left shoulder. As expected, the girl leaned to the right and the red ninja brought left leg around carefully, making contact with her abdomen. She gasped, falling to her knees, holding her staff vertically to try and keep herself upright. Ripping the staff from her grip, the Ninja of Fire sent another kick towards the girl's chest. Coughing and sputtering, she fell backwards, her skull hitting the street with a sickening crack.

"Sis!" Lloyd scrambled to his feet, pushing past a confused Cole. The street almost seemed to be stretching out in front of him, like in a nightmare. It felt like it took years to reach his sister, falling to his knees beside her limp figure. Her pale skin seemed even more so. "Wake up, sis, please," he cried, feeling someone pull him away from the girl in front of him.

"Did you just say what I _think_ you just said?" the red ninja questioned, both hands strongly holding Lloyd back from the unconscious attacker. He could feel the boy tremble slightly in his grip. He would take his silence as a 'yes' then. "Sis? As in sister? This girl is your _sister_ and you didn't say anything to us?" There were so many questions and Kai just felt so, angry; a metaphorical volcano about to erupt. "Why is she here? Why is she with the Serpentine? We didn't even know you _had_ a sister, Lloyd."

He tried shaking his friend off, but Kai kept his grip. "My dad found her," Lloyd said slowly, his eyes still focused on Laurie's body. "He convinced her that you guys had kidnapped me and she was trying to save me." This was not going to make the others feel any better about his sister, but he had to tell them. "I-I don't think she was actually helping the Serpentine. When we talked earlier it sounded like they actually did attack her earlier. She was obviously hypnotized, Kai. I don't think Skales would have done that if he trusted her to help them." Emerald eyes scanned the street where the Hypnobrai had been watching the fight, but found him nowhere. Now that he really paid attention, he did not see any of the Serpentine anymore. They had fled. "Skales and the others are gone," Lloyd pointed out. With Zane currently down for the count, the anti-venom in the Hypnobrai staff was the only thing left that could break Laurie free from Skales' influence.

What were they going to do now?

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**I honestly can't believe that I'm dragging out a single chapter from the original version of this into three chapters. Still wondering if I even should have started this version. Yikes. XD**

**Thanks for reading. See you next week for a new chapter. :)**


	7. Distrust

**Happy Friday! I'm so happy it's Friday. I need this weekend to catch up on some sleep. -_-**

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Chapter Seven: Distrust

A hand flashed by his face and Lloyd jumped backwards, throwing a punch without much force behind it. Kai caught the young boy's hand and steadied it. "Easy there, short stuff," he started, releasing Lloyd's fist and watching as his arm fell lifelessly back to his side. "I just wanted to get your attention. You kind of zoned out there for a minute." A small frown adorned Lloyd's face as he brought his eyes up to meet his brother's. The Ninja of Fire was still fuming at the fact that Lloyd had withheld the information about his sister, but he took a deep breath and attempted to calm himself so he could better talk with the boy. "Do you want to talk about what's making you so upset?"

Did he want to talk? What was making him so upset? Lloyd felt his teeth clench together slightly as a light layer of tears glistened over his eyes. "Yeah, sure, Kai, let's talk about what's making me so upset." He saw the spiky haired brunet nod gravely, obviously prepared for a serious conversation. "Maybe it's the fact that my dad seems to hurt everyone around me." Both arms were crossed tightly over his green gi now. "Maybe it's the fact that the Serpentine can never leave me alone." Lloyd narrowed his eyes deeply as he took a single step towards Kai. "Maybe it's the fact that you just knocked my sister unconscious, Kai! She didn't know what she was doing! She was just doing what Skales _told_ her to do!" Yet again, he threw a punch at the teenager that was easily caught.

"You want to play the 'blame game', Lloyd?" Kai growled, tightening his grip on the small fist in his hand. "Fine, let's play." He spun the green ninja around, holding him steady with his left arm. "Who released the Serpentine in the first place? It was you." Lloyd was fidgeting, trying to break free from the steely arm keeping him restrained. "Who ran away from the dojo earlier and caused this to happen to his sister? It was you." He closed his eyes, forcing the stinging sensation away. He was not going to let Kai see that he was making him so upset. "Who shorted out Zane and prevented us from finding away to help his sister? It was you!" Heavy sadness and guilt weighed heavy on the young boy's heart and mind. He had stopped trying to fight Kai a little while back now. "Let's not forget who couldn't control his powers on the Bounty and caused the mast to fall, right on top of-"

Cole ripped Lloyd away from Kai and shot his brother a malignant glare. "Enough," the leader said, his voice cold. "No one is going to blame anyone for anything. We can't go back and change what's already happened, so we have to deal with the consequences of our choices." Lloyd was sniffing incessantly, attempting to hold back the tears that were begging to spill free. Giving a soft sigh, the black clad ninja took a knee, amber eyes studying the boy's face. "It's okay, Lloyd. Everyone makes mistakes. It's how you decide to learn from those mistakes that matters." Cole received a soft nod in reply and, giving a warm smile, stood up and gave Lloyd a hard pat on the back. The green ninja stumbled slightly, but managed to regain his balance quickly. "Sorry," the Ninja of Earth apologized. "Don't know my own strength."

"How can we help Laurie?" The words hung in the air as Lloyd slowly followed the team leader over towards Jay, who knelt over Zane, examining the interior compartments of his friend. "Skales has the anti-venom and he's gone now."

A circular object sat nestled in the upper left corner of Zane's chest and Jay ran a gloved hand across it. Soft, blue light pulsed slowly from the artificial heart and the Ninja of Lightning smiled. "He's not broken or anything," the auburn haired teen stated, closing Zane's chest panel and getting to his feet. "I think the electrical pulse forced Zane's systems into a 'sleep mode'. He'll be just fine! The circuitry and systems are completely intact. Lloyd just kind of made him take a nap. When he finally comes to, everything will be back to normal".

"How long is that going to take?" Lloyd asked, voice slightly bitter. None of this would have happened if he planned better; if he was not so reckless. Laurie would be back to normal and they would have been able to catch the snakes before they ran off like cowards.

A drawn out sigh escaped the blue ninja's lips. "Sorry, pipsqueak, but I just don't know." He could tell Lloyd was angered by the answer, storming off back towards his unconscious sister, standing next to her body. Kai, noticing Lloyd approaching, hastily made his way back over to his friends. "Lloyd seems really upset," Jay observed, fiddling with his nunchucks and frowning slightly. These were boring, he missed his golden weapon. "I can understand, wanting to help family and all, but it is kinda his fault that we can't help his sister sooner." He glanced over at Cole who gave him a stern look. "Well, it is!"

Kai rolled his eyes. There was no point in trying to spare Lloyd's feelings or anything. He had messed up and he should know the emotions that came with it. Disappointment. Guilt. Helplessness. All the things that Kai had felt when Samukai had taken Nya from him. The three ninja stood in a tight circle, trying to keep their voices down. "We'll just all go back to the apartment, if we even have room for someone else, and wait for Zane to finally wake up." The red ninja watched as his brothers nodded in agreement before continuing. "He'll figure out which button plays the flute melody, we'll help what's her face, and then send her on her way."

"Kai, it's Lloyd's sister," Cole argued, amber eyes wide. "We can't just 'send her on her way'!" The brunet looked ready to argue, but he would have to wait his turn. "That's his family! What if after we had saved Nya, we had just sent her 'on her way'?" There was a steady rage building up inside of Kai. His posture stiffened and he took a step backwards. "That would have really made you mad, huh? It's the same thing here. Sure, we're all family here. I couldn't imagine having a better bunch of brothers than you guys, but blood family is different."

Cole seemed to think he was so smart. So wise. Well, he was not. Last time Kai checked, Cole was not Sensei. "Nya isn't like this girl," Kai spat, directing a majority of the malice at the black ninja. "Nya needed our help and she wasn't involved in anything. Lloyd's sister came to take him away, take him back to Garmadon." Jay audibly gasped, his thoughts most likely paralleling the red ninja's. "Yeah, we can't trust her. If Lord Garmadon gets his hands on Lloyd, we won't be able to train him. Garmadon could _win_."

"I don't want Garmadon to win," Jay whispered loudly, hazel eyes glancing around nervously. "Sensei would be so mad at us if that happened! We'd have to do chores _forever_." His skin seemed to pale slightly at this realization while Cole shook his head in annoyance. "You guys know it's true! Don't look at me like that…"

Ignoring the Ninja of Lightning, Cole turned back towards Kai. "We'll let Sensei decide what we do with her then. She's his niece after all." Kai nodded begrudgingly, focusing now on the ground. "Besides, Kai, people who seem bad at first don't always turn out to be that way." They all knew that from personal experience. "Let's just start heading back. Kai, Jay, you guys take Zane and I'll just grab…" Cole's sentence trailed off as he glanced over at Lloyd and his sister, eyes wide. There _she _was, still lying on the ground, but the green ninja was nowhere to be found. "He's gone," the leader choked, pushing past Kai and Jay. "H-He just left, he's not here!" Heart beating hard in his chest, the earth ninja whirled around in pure shock. "Where did he go?"

"Where do you think he went?" Kai asked plainly, hair looking as sharp as his voice. "The kid probably went after the stupid Serpentine. He's impatient sometimes, you know how he is. We don't know when Zane is going to come to, so what else can possibly help his sister?" Jay shot the red ninja a small smile, obviously knowing the answer. "This isn't funny, Jay. He probably went to Ouroboros to see if the snakes went there too. Lloyd wants the anti-venom." Noticing that Cole still seemed to be taking everything in, Kai decided to take charge. "I'll go get the kid. You guys take Zane back and I'll take what's her face with me. Skales probably wants his puppet back anyways."

Jay frowned. "She's not an object, Kai," he rebutted, backing up towards Zane. "If you're so sure though, go ahead, take her. Not sure if it's a good idea to carry dead weight around like that." He laughed slightly, realizing that soon he and Cole would be carrying dead weight of their own back to the apartment. Well, Zane was not dead. Neither was the girl for that matter. _Why do they call it dead weight? I mean, unless they're dead, they could call it 'sleeping weight' or 'unconscious weight'? Who even are 'they'?_ Shaking himself out of his thought induced daze, Jay managed to focus on the situation at hand once more. "What are you gonna do if she wakes up and attacks you?"

"Um, I think I can handle it. I handled it once already," Kai gestured nonchalantly at the girl's unconscious form before kneeling briefly to pick her up. "I'll bring back Lloyd, I promise. Whether or not I bring her back with me depends on what happens." _I'm just going to leave her with the Serpentine. They wanted her so badly, they can keep her_. Cole kept his gaze focused on the red ninja as he flung Lloyd's sister over his right shoulder. "I've got it all under control, Cole," Kai sighed, locking eyes with his brother and giving a reassuring thumbs up. "Go take care of Zane."

Turning on his heel, the red ninja carefully traversed the streets of the city. Nightfall was slowly approaching, the sun dipping close to the horizon. The desert was not always forgiving in the dark. It could become cold quickly. He probably had an hour until the entirety of the sky was blanketed in stars, almost two hours if he was extremely fortunate. The girl on his shoulder did not stir as he turned down street after street, weaving his way towards the outskirts of the metropolis area. As the landscape became sparser, and the buildings fewer, Kai knew he was getting closer to the desert. With a drawn out sigh, his light brown eyes swept over the sprawling sand before him. Lloyd was out there somewhere and he needed to find him quickly.

"You just need to get to Ouroboros," he said to himself, feeling as the combined weight of himself and Lloyd's sister caused him to sink further than he would have hoped into the sand. _This is all going to be way more difficult than I thought_. A soft groan filled the air, followed by the slightest movement of Lloyd's sister. Kai froze, his muscles tensing up instantly. _What are you doing that for? Just get her down and knock her out again!_ He meant to stop and lower her to the ground, but instead just dropped her.

Hair sprawled out around her head, framing her face. She gave a hard cough as she slowly blinked, staring up at the light pink and golden hues that colored the sky. "What?" she groaned, moving to sit up. Her head throbbed painfully and she sucked in a breath, gingerly moving to touch the area where the pain seemed the most concentrated. A large knot rested underneath her hair, very sensitive to her touch. Pulling her hand away, Laurie saw the tips of her fingers lightly dusted in dry blood. _What is going on?_ Inhaling deeply, she felt the muscles in her chest protest slightly. Every inch of her body felt sore.

"Don't move."

Laurie froze, glancing slightly upwards to see a man towering over her. He had a sword drawn out, the metal blade glinting in the fading light. Her eyes grew wide and she instinctively held up both hands in surrender. "I-I don't want any trouble," she said slowly, trying to make sense of what was happening. "I'm not exactly sure where I am right now, so maybe you could help me out?" The tip of the blade advanced closer towards her throat. "O-Or maybe not, that's fine too."

"Are you really trying to take him back to your father?" The guy narrowed his eyes, his face an indiscernible mask of emotion.

She felt her arms shaking slightly as she kept her hands in the air. "Um, take who back to my father? He's traveling around in a floating boat or something anyways. Finding him would be hard enough as it is." A few of the events from the day suddenly flashed through her mind. She gritted her teeth against an uncomfortable pressure behind her forehead. It was like a dream. Everything was beginning to come back to her, like she was watching a film of the past few hours. "You're talking about Lloyd!" she suddenly gasped, ice blue eyes really scrutinizing her attacker. He was dressed in a red gi, his brunet hair spiked crazily. There was also the weapon in his hand. "You're one of the ninja my father was talking about! You have Lloyd, right? He said you had Lloyd. Look, as long as he's safe with you guys, I don't care. My father's not the nicest guy and I don't want him anywhere near my brother. Would you mind if I said 'hi' to him? I mean, I know I was talking with him earlier, but I really wasn't all there if you know what I mean." She knocked lightly on the side of her head, instantly regretting the decision.

_This girl is insane_. Kai dipped the end of his sword closer to the girl and watched as she moved to scurry backwards slightly. "I said don't move," he repeated harshly, watching as she stopped abruptly. Her ice blue eyes were wide with fear. _Wait a second. _"How did you do that?" Kai asked, truly curious. The girl glanced around nervously, obviously confused. "You're fine. You're not in a trance." He lowered his sword slightly, taking a few steps closer and leaning down to get a better look at Lloyd's sister. Her brow furrowed slightly, freckled nose crinkled, but her eyes were a perfectly normal color. Blue, not red. "How did you do that?"

"A trance?" Laurie was really confounded. "Where are we anyways? Is this the desert? I was out here earlier and had a really bad experience. I was in the city earlier, so why am I out here?" The ninja continued to stare at her, probably waiting for an answer that she honestly could not give. "I don't even know who you are! Last person I talked to was a snake. Well, I guess he wouldn't really be a person then if you think about it…"

The sword was dangerously trained on her once more. "So you _do_ remember!" the ninja shouted. "The Serpentine are our enemy. Are you working for them?"

"N-no," the red head answered, noticing the pounding of her heart growing with each passing second. "I was just talking with one of them. He said he was going to help me find my brother and then…" Laurie closed her eyes, trying to think about the conversation she had had with the snake. Everything was beginning to draw a blank. "I think I fell asleep. When I woke up I was here…with _you_." Her tone placed some angered emphasis on the final word.

What was going on? "You were hypnotized," Kai scoffed, pulling the blade away from Lloyd's sister and sheathing it. She was completely clueless, hardly a threat even if she did decide to suddenly attack him. "Skales sent you to try and take Lloyd from us, but we…uh…managed to subdue you before you did anything." _I'm not gonna tell her I just knocked her out cold_, he thought to himself. "We didn't do anything to help you though, so you should still be under hypnosis." Kai noticed the girl looking down at her shoes and he coughed slightly, regaining her attention. "Why aren't you?"

"I don't know," Laurie spat, growing tired of the interrogation. "Maybe someone else helped me and now I'm fine." This elicited a poor response from the ninja, who just gave an exasperated sigh and rubbed his temples. "Look, we're obviously getting nowhere with this conversation. I'll get out of your hair as soon as I can talk with my brother again. I promise." This guy did not necessarily seem like a kidnapper. Then again, he had taken her out of the city. Was he trying to kidnap her too or something?

"Lloyd's gone," Kai yelled, trying to emphasize the fact. "He went to try and find the stupid Serpentine by himself so he could try and help _you_." The same distaste that had been sprinkled in the girl's voice previously was now thrown at her.

Lloyd was gone? "You're a ninja, aren't you? Can't you find the Serpentine and get Lloyd back?" Laurie watched as the guy gave her a death glare and she felt the blood drain from her face. He could be really intimidating when he wanted to. _Stupid, he's probably out looking for Lloyd now! _"Oh, of course you'd be looking for Lloyd. He wanted to help me so you brought me along to show him I'm fine!" That was actually pretty smart. This ninja was good.

This girl was absolutely crazy and she sure had a lot to say. He already got that enough from Jay. "Yeah, sure, I brought you to show Lloyd you're okay so he'd come back." Kai watched as Lloyd's sister gave a wide smile and he offered his hand out towards her, helping her to her feet. "Since you're conscious now I guess you can help. Don't think I won't take you down in a second if you do anything funny though," the red ninja finished, unhappy about his new 'partner'. "We find Lloyd, you talk with him, and then you're gone."

"I'm Laurie, nice to meet you too," the girl huffed, rolling her eyes as the ninja charged on ahead, barely caring if she followed. Lloyd had better be somewhere close, because spending any more time with this guy felt like the most awkward stretch of eternity.

Ever.

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**Hope everything is still staying interesting. Thanks for reading. See you next week. Have a great weekend! :)**


	8. Falling Into Place

**Alright. Like I promised: an update. It's shorter than most of the other chapters so far, but I felt like this was something I couldn't just stretch out. That would be too boring. And no one wants boring, right?**

**Right.**

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Chapter Eight: Falling Into Place

He had to be getting close now. Every moment that the sun dipped farther down over the horizon, the air seemed to grow more chilled. Small bursts of wind whipped sand around him, spiraling Lloyd in a gritty embrace. Coughing through his mask and constantly attempting to shield his eyes with a wavering hand, the young boy trudged onward. He gripped the weapon his sister had been using tightly in his right hand, feeling the end of the staff trail lazily on the ground behind him. It felt odd, having something to defend himself. The guys never really gave him weapons to use. Lloyd had never even had _training_ with weapons before. Hopefully all of the hand-to-hand combat training he had been going through would prepare him to use Laurie's staff if he had to. How hard could it be to use anyways?

The guys had been talking among themselves when he had sneaked away. Lloyd was happy that they had not seen him go. If they had, they would have stopped him, dragged him back to his Uncle and told him to stay put until Zane finally came around. This was his fault though. He was always being told he could not come or he could not help. It was starting to become a little tiresome. He was the _green ninja_! Lloyd shielded his eyes against the wind that seemed determined to halt his journey. There was no way he was going to go back, not without the anti-venom to help Laurie. "Sis…I'm sorry," the young boy sighed, pushing forward. Kai had been right, none of this would have happened if he had just stayed put. Laurie would be fine. Zane would be fine. Lloyd clenched his teeth together and continued towards Ouroboros. Sometimes he really messed things up.

Now was the time to make everything right.

How long had he been walking now anyways? I felt like forever. Lloyd glanced back behind him, watching as the continuous stream of wind wiped all traces of his path from the sand. Sighing, the green ninja attempted to pick up his pace. When the guys realized he was gone, they would no doubt figure out where he was heading. They would come and find him. Lloyd could feel his facial muscles tugging into a smile. If a certain someone had been around earlier, he would not have let Lloyd out of his sight. Then this whole rescue mission would have been absolutely impossible. A small chuckle sounded in the otherwise empty air as Lloyd recalled some fond memories. _Let's not forget who couldn't control his powers on the Bounty._ The young boy pushed Kai's words to the back of his mind and continued on, trying to stay focused on the task at hand.

The wind around him picked up and Lloyd clenched his teeth in concentration. It was almost like it was trying to stop him from getting to where he needed to go. As he was beginning to think he was aimlessly lost in the Sea of Sand, the faint glow of torchlight caught his eyes, shining from the distance. "Ouroboros," the green ninja whispered to himself, instinctively crouching down and trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. He still gripped the somewhat heavy staff in his hands. This had to be done quickly and quietly. "Get in, find the staff, take the gem, and get out," breathed Lloyd, noticing the outskirts of the ancient city becoming more discernible from the sand around it. This was really reckless, and he knew that. Lloyd was practically playing into the Serpentine's hands.

Lloyd scurried up a sand dune, using the vantage point to get a better view at the city. The whole place seemed to be deserted, but he felt like the Serpentine would have come back here. Where else could they retreat to? Feeling a bit exposed just standing in plain sight, the young ninja dropped to his stomach on the gritty sand, still staking out the city below. The tombs would have been a poor choice in his opinion. If he had been sealed away for hundreds of thousands of years, he would not want to go back to his prison, even if only for a little while. Some of the sand shifted underneath Lloyd and he adjusted himself accordingly, crawling across the top of the dune with his elbows. Would the Serpentine have gone down to the sewers back in Ninjago City? It was a possibility, but…

"Gotcha!"

A strong tail lifted up from underneath the sand and wrapped its way around Lloyd's body. The young boy let out a quick gasp before he was fully detained. Skalidor dug himself out from underneath of the sand dune, a smirk on his scaly face. Lloyd squirmed as the muscles in his captor's tail tightened. He noticed he had dropped his sister's staff and tried to move his arm in any way possible in an attempt to free it and grab for the weapon, but he knew it was practically useless. "Let me go," Lloyd cried, knowing full well that the Constrictai would not actually release him.

In the silence of the now night air, Skalidor gave a deep laugh before slithering off towards the city with Lloyd in tow. "He knew you would come," he chuckled, feeling the boy still trying to break free from his grip. "You're lucky we need you alive," Skalidor hissed, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Otherwise I'd give you the big squeeze now."

Lloyd swallowed hard as the intricate and architectural details of the city became more apparent. Rubble was scattered about the sandstone slabs that were set in circular patterns on the ground. A large and seemingly fathomless black hole gazed up from the center of the city. Holding his breath, the green ninja thought back to what had created the hole and all the chaos that had ensued because of it. The Great Devourer. Carefully maneuvering them around the hole, Skalidor slithered close towards the edge, tipping Lloyd towards the darkness. The young boy felt his muscles tense up, adrenaline rushing through his body as the Constrictai laughed. "Like I said, we need you alive," the general continued, pulling Lloyd away from the hole.

"Where is he?" the blonde spat, noticing something up ahead reflecting the light of the carefully placed torches. "You said that he knew I would come, so where is he? Where's Skales?" The object up ahead was becoming clearer now: a large, domed cage that sat upon a crumbling pedestal in front of the ruined statue of the Great Devourer. These snakes always seemed to have cages around when it was convenient. Without a moment of hesitation, Skalidor opened the barred door and tossed the boy inside. His back hit the hard metal and he groaned as he unsteadily got back on his feet, gripping the bars of the prison forcefully with his gloved hands. "Where's Skales?" Lloyd asked once again, his tone slightly more demanding.

"Skales has his own matters to attend to at the moment," rang a familiar voice from somewhere behind.

Feeling his breath catch slightly, the green ninja turned to face the owner of the voice. Emerald eyes wide, he could feel sweat beginning to bead on his forehead, sticking the material of the mask to his face. "Y-You can't be here," Lloyd stuttered slightly, obviously in shock. "You're dead. _You died_. Back in the city when we defeated the Devourer." A sense of dread overwhelmed the small ninja as he felt his hands tremble slightly. "You j-just can't be alive. You're dead!"

Pythor gave a fanged smirk, his eyes glowing in the dark. "If I'm dead, then so is your Sensei," the violet serpent answered condescendingly. He could see the fear in the young boy's eyes and slithered closer towards him. "Did you think that I would have stuck around after surviving the fiasco with the Great Devourer? That would have been a fool's choice. I made my way safely out of the city as quickly as possible and returned here to gather my strength and thoughts." With narrowed eyes, Pythor lunged towards the cage, startling Lloyd who tripped over himself slightly. "Scared, are you?" the Anacondrai chuckled. "I don't blame you. You are among enemies after all."

"What do you want with me?" Lloyd asked, regretting the decision. He already knew what the Serpentine wanted with him. It was always the same thing. Bait. A hostage. A bargaining chip. Lloyd frowned, realizing he was somewhat of a pawn to both sides in the fight for Ninjago. He could hear Pythor droning on about something, but he tuned it out. Probably nothing he had not heard before anyways. Lloyd's mind wandered, wondering how close the guys were to Ouroboros now. They had to have noticed he was gone by now. Maybe Zane had gained consciousness already. Maybe Laurie was back to normal. _I really messed up, _the green ninja thought warily, glancing over at the long-necked serpent.

He could tell he was not holding the boy's attention like he wanted to. Children could be so insolent on the occasion. "Would you like to see your sister?" he chuckled. Lloyd's head shot up, his eyes solely focus on Pythor now. Perfect. "Oh, I see that got your attention. The fact that you _had_ a sibling caught _my _attention. Once your ninja friends had finished chasing my comrades away, they came back to me with some information that I found very useful: Lord Garmadon had another child." Just another object he could use to get what he wanted. "Pulling our resources together, we released Skales from his prison to aid us in a new plan for revenge." The Anacondrai could almost taste the anger seemingly radiating from Lloyd. "Since Skalidor and Fangtom had failed to bring me this new player in our little game, we would just find a way to get the both of you at once."

"Laurie's fine and safe with the ninja," Lloyd challenged. "I'll find a way out of here and then you'll wish you had died in the stomach of the Great Devourer." His own words did not sound like him, but Lloyd could feel the anger building up within him. The ninja were always telling him he could not help. The Serpentine were always trying to use him. Not this time. He would find a way out and get back to the city. "Your plan won't work, Pythor. We'll make sure of it."

His dark and throaty laugh seemed to echo all around Lloyd. "You act much braver than you use to," Pythor stated plainly, giving the boy a slow clap. "My plan will follow through just like I expect it to. After the initial plan fell through, I formulated a backup plan. You ended up here, looking for the anti-venom to the Hypnobrai's powers, am I correct?" The seething silence was answer enough for Pythor as he continued on. "Just as I thought. Well then, you shouldn't worry. Everything else will fall into place soon enough. Just sit back and watch everything unfold, boy." He turned to slither away, leaving Skalidor to guard the prisoner, but stopped and turned back. "Oh, and don't get too comfortable. You'll have company soon enough."

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**That's it. I'm going back to bed now to get a little more sleep before my classes start. I've gotta be well rested for "Fandom Jeopardy" tonight on campus. I wish it was "Ninjago Jeopardy" because I would beat everyone. Oh well. I'll just have to bring my "A-Game". Thanks for reading, thanks for being patient. Toodles for now. :3**


	9. Good Intentions

**Happy Friday! Sorry for the little bit later than usual update. I was feeling really sick last night (you have no idea) and had to stop writing so I could try and get some sleep. So I literally just finished this chapter a few minutes ago. Hooray!**

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Chapter Nine: Good Intentions

She tried to keep her mouth shut as much as possible. Every now and then she would ask the ninja walking beside her if they were still heading in the right direction, to which he would always answer "yes". Laurie's eyes continued to rest upon the sword sheathed across his back, hoping that it would stay exactly where it was right now. "I never caught your name," the red head started, absentmindedly fiddling with the straps that kept her gloves secured around her wrists. "I'm Laurie, if you didn't hear me earlier."

"Kai," the brunet answered, turning to look at the girl for the first time since they had started traveling. "And I heard you the first time." He could see she was very uneasy; her motions reserved and eye contact lacking. This was definitely not the person he had been fighting in the street earlier. The explanation Lloyd had given him for her sudden appearance had included her wanting to take Lloyd back to Lord Garmadon. _My father's not the nicest guy and I don't want him anywhere near my brother._ If she felt that way about Garmadon, then why was she helping him? "Do you mind if I ask you something?" the Ninja of Fire, taking in a deep breath. All of the annoyance and frustration that had built up inside of him since this morning had fizzled into nothingness. With prolonged silence growing between the two teenagers, Kai just assumed that he could go ahead with his question. "Why are you here? What made you come to Ninjago City?"

_That was two questions_, the red head thought sourly. "I didn't mean to come to the city," Laurie sighed, clasping her hands behind her back awkwardly. She was feeling slightly fidgety and had nothing better to do with her hands. "In all honesty, I should probably be dead right now." As much as she hated looking back on it now, if her father had not have found her back in the desert, she would not be looking for Lloyd with Kai. Lloyd might not have ended up in a situation like this though. "I was searching for my father because I finally learned why he had left when I was younger. I learned exactly what he was trying to do and that he had returned to Ninjago." She turned her head to look at the red ninja and noticed that they were now holding eye contact. "I wanted to try and stop him. I wanted to prove to him that I had grown up fine without him…you know, when I really start to think about it…"

He could kind of relate. It reminded Kai of when Lord Garmadon had been brought on the Bounty by Sensei; the thoughts of hatred that had passed through his mind during that time. If he could stand up to Lord Garmadon, he would unlock his true potential and become the Green Ninja. All of the seemed pretty childish when he looked back on it. A small smirk spread its way across his face and Laurie tried to ignore it, focusing her attention straight ahead now. "So, you had to have found him," Kai continued, scanning the sand up ahead for any signs of Ouroboros. They had been walking for a good amount of time now. The city should not be far away now. "You found your dad, right? You said he had told you about us."

"Oh, um, yes," Laurie replied quickly, a sudden realization creeping over her. It was really dark out, even with the twinkling light from the stars up above. Without noticing, she closed the distance between herself and Kai slowly. "That's where everything gets a little complicated. I found my father, yes. Something happened though and it's kind of fuzzy. He was telling me that there were ninja in Ninjago City and they had kidnapped Lloyd." Laurie could feel the heavy sensation of guilt settling in her stomach. "And I believed him. So I came to the city, like he instructed me to, and then everything just went downhill from there: the Serpentine, Lloyd being stubborn, and my own arrogance." Laurie internally scoffed at herself. She was so stupid sometimes. "I thought I could take you guys down if you had tried to stop me from taking Lloyd. And then, when I finally get a good grasp on what is going on around me, I have a sword at my throat and I'm just petrified." She chuckled slightly. "At least something knocked some sense back into me."

The story seemed to make sense and, honestly, it sounded like something Lord Garmadon would do. He still felt like he had to keep his wits about him. This girl could be a very good liar. "Well, when we find Lloyd you need to come back to the city with me. Our Sensei, your uncle, wanted to talk with you before the whole Serpentine thing happened." He could see the slight shadow of shock make its way across Laurie's face. "Wait…you didn't know that your uncle was the one who trained us?"

"I-I never really connected him looking for ninja and the fact that I'm now roped into this whole ninja mess." Wow…she really _was_ stupid. If Lloyd was in the hands of Uncle Wu, then he was going to be completely fine. She could always remember her uncle being a patient and kind man. His influence would be great for Lloyd! "I haven't seen Uncle in years so it all kind of slipped my mind. Besides, my mother took me with her on her archeological excavations and stuff. Thought it would be good for me. Everything just kind of slipped my mind until my mother finally told me about my father: why he had just disappeared and what he was trying to do." It all sounded really silly when she said it out loud. "Hey, um, do you mind if I ask you something now?"

Kai shrugged his shoulders. He had been asking her a lot of things and it all seemed to be giving him a clearer picture of who she was and what her intentions were. "Yeah, you can ask me a question. Go for it."

"Would you have killed me when I first woke up?" She felt a small pang of fear creep up inside of her. Why had she asked that? Laurie's eyes darted to Kai's sword once more. "I-I mean, I'm not saying I thought you were going to kill me. I was just a little nervous back there." She felt her face turn bright red as she trudged on ahead, trying to put a bit of distance between her and Kai now. That had been really dumb of her. She should have just kept her mouth shut.

_Take him_.

She stopped where she was and just blinked. Kai jogged up quickly beside her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Whoa, you took off really quickly," he breathed. That had all been really odd. "You didn't even give me a chance to answer your question." His eyes scrutinized Laurie's expression. She seemed slightly confused and just petrified. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Did you say something to me when you were trying to catch up?" Laurie questioned, feeling a pressure building up in her head. It was like a terrible headache, blurring her vision slightly and slowly growing more unbearable by the second. The red head clenched her teeth in an attempt to alleviate the sensation, but it would not work. "D-Did you call out after me or something?" she asked once more, her tone full of urgency.

The Ninja of Fire just thought for a second. "No, I didn't say anything until I got to you. Why?"

Laurie shook her head, still feeling the pressure. "I thought I heard you say something. Sorry, let's continue on. Lloyd is still out there somewhere." She rolled her shoulder, feeling as Kai's hand fell off and gestured for them to keep going. Narrowing his eyes slightly due to the abrupt change of the subject, Kai started onward as Laurie trailed slightly behind him. She could have sworn she had heard a voice.

_Subdue him._

The pressure continued to grow and the red head squeezed her eyes shut, sucking in a breath. Okay, that time someone had definitely said something. The voice was familiar, but she could not place a face to it. One thing was certain: it was most certainly not Kai. Laurie watched as Kai was waving his arms around slightly, as if he were in a conversation with someone. Her feet barely lifted off the ground as she trudged along the sand. Hearing things was never a good sign of anything.

_I control you, girl. Take the ninja._

She gasped slightly as she finally recognized the voice. Her lips parted as she tried to call out to Kai, but nothing came out. Her vision was swimming, the ambient sounds of the night growing quieter. It almost felt like she was being submerged in water, drifting away from what was happening around her. And then everything went black.

* * *

Laurie's question really had him thinking. He would not have killed her, right? Sure, he had been angry and it was no secret that his patience and temper could be very thin. Despite everything Kai had said back in the city, he was slowly beginning to realize that Laurie really was just another person. Lloyd's sister. Visions of his brothers threatening Nya in the same manner crossed his mind and he shook them away defiantly. "I wouldn't have killed you," he answered softly. "I can be a bit reckless sometimes. I don't always think things through before I jump into action and, talking with you, I can see that you only want what's best for Lloyd." A harsh wind blew across his back and Kai turned to see Laurie quite far behind him. "Well come on then," Kai shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. "We won't get to Ouroboros by just standing around."

Turning on his heel, the Ninja of Fire continued onward, hearing the hurried sound of Laurie's breathing growing closer and closer. He heard her give an angry grunt and glanced backwards in time to see her twist her body around, lashing out a kick. With quick reflexes, the red ninja ducked, managing to avoid the attack. "All I said was that we weren't gonna get to Ouroboros by just standing around. No need to get upset about it!" Soon after collecting herself from the failed attack, Laurie thrust her fist forward, but Kai caught it. "What's wrong with you?" he asked forcefully. Her attitude seemed to change in the blink of an eye. Now she was back to acting like she did when they were fighting in the city.

_Wait a minute…_

He brought his eyes up to her face and frowned. Gleaming, red irises stared back at him. How could this have happened though? It had just been the two of them in the desert the entire time. Scanning his surroundings, Kai checked for any sign of the Hypnobrai, but found none. "Hey, if you can hear me, try to listen, alright?" he was surprised with how calm he actually sounded during this situation. "I don't know how you did it before, but you managed to break your trance. You can do it again." Laurie managed to pull free from Kai's grip and tackled him to the ground. The two teenagers, rolled across the sand until Kai pinned Lloyd's sister underneath him. "Laurie, snap out of it," Kai tried once more. His hand instinctively itched to grab the sword from his back, but his thoughts prevented him from going through with it. "You can't help Lloyd if you're like this."

Managing to bring her legs to her chest, the red head kicked Kai off of her. He stumbled backwards and finally regained his balance as something wrapped itself around his arms. "If I had known in advance how weak of a fighter the girl would have been, I would not have wasted my time." Kai squirmed and tilted his head back to see Skales detaining him. Thrusting an elbow backwards, the Ninja of Fire hoped to free himself, but the momentum from the attack was too weak. Watching as Laurie got to her feet, he once again attempted to pull away from the Serpentine behind him. He could feel Skales struggling to keep his hold on him now. Perfect, he could get out of this!

A hand on his shoulder brought Kai back to his surroundings. Laurie glared at him, her lips forming into a small smirk. The red ninja looked at her with a somber expression. She had not wanted to be a part of this at all from what he had gathered. No, the only reason she was here was because Garmadon had tricked her. Now she was wrapped up in a whole other fight. Before he could try and reason with her again, she brought a knee up into his stomach. Coughing and choking, Kai felt his knees weaken slightly, Skales' grip feeling tighter. As he managed to suck in a deep breath, he watched as Laurie threw another punch at his face. Only this time, the attack made contact.

It was harder than he could have imagined. Kai's cheek and jaw erupted with pain and he felt himself gasp. "You have to…get control of yourself…" he said weakly, feeling his eyelids waver. Laurie shifted in and out of focus as the pain from her punch radiated outward. Well, she did not hit like a girl when she actually managed to land a hit. Before Kai could say anything else, the red head hit him again, her knuckles pressing hard against the tender spots of his jaw line.

Kai fell limp in Skales' arms.

* * *

**Yeah, sorry about the later update and the fact that I procrastinate every time I write, but I still hope it was enjoyable.**

**Thanks for reading and everything because you guys are awesome. See you next week. Bye! :D**


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